“They also serve who only stand and wait,” who wait for, wait upon, wait up nights, bear the weight of painful separation or problematic return. Your loved one is serving far away, has come back profoundly changed, or worst of all is gone forever.
All day long you deal with people who have no idea, who go about their lives unaware of the sacrifices being made for them. It’s hard to fake a smile sometimes, or feign interest, or show up, but you do. You do all the work you used to do, plus the new work of filling in, taking care, cheering on, staying strong. Your warrior isn’t the only one in the family with courage.
We recognize the too-often invisible hardships that accompany military family life. We see your struggle and we are grateful for your labors of love for family and country.
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Photo credit:
- “Blue Star in Window” by Djembayz (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under [CC BY-SA 3.0]