http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-military-mom-michelle-obama-20120904,0,4814119.story Quote from this site…
“Brye may think of herself as just a mom, but she is in fact a rather special mother. Four of her five children are military officers, one in each branch — Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. “Our youngest is still in high school,” Brye said. “And yes, we’re hoping he’ll join the Coast Guard.” On the lapel of her purple dress, she wore four rhinestone pins representing each branch.”
I stay away from politics in this blog because the focus is not political, it is “personal.” It was no coincidence that my posting yesterday was dedicated to military spouses, including my own Mom, Marcella C. Sparks. I was moved by Elaine Brye’s story, especially her courage as a military Mom. Ms. Brye taking the stage at the DNC was very timely to show how critical family support is to our soldiers on deployment and when they return home to life after war. It also made me feel great to honor my own Mom for her courage for so many decades in dealing with the highly sensitive and explosive conditions in our own home while we were growing up. I did not know until recently, following the research and publication of my book, what my Mom was facing raising her first son alone for all of WWII. It was even more shocking to me to learn about the symptoms of moral injury and PTSD, and think back to how hard it was for her to keep the peace in our home. It was nearly impossible, but she did a remarkable job keeping all of us together for so many years before we were on our own. It was no picnic at the beach, but knowing the circumstances of our family’s toxic home life has been healing for me, and my respect, and debt to Mom for being there for us as best as she could is enormous. http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4469716410121705800#editor/target=post;postID=6427152203198303887
Steve Sparks
Author
Reconciliation: A Son’s Story
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From the right, “military Spouse & Mom” Marcella, Scarlett, & Daughter, Laura |