Ohhhhhhh! I'm telling! You said a bad word!!!

There is a word written on the white board in my dining room where I write down everything I need to remember. Groceries, random appointments, the 2,000 digit phone numbers of the people I need to call.

Today, there is actually a word on the board that I don't really want people to see when they walk in my house. Which means I have to run some errands ASAP.

The word?

c***cap n. A hat worn by military personnel who are wearing the dress uniform.

The "c" word is up there  on the list of words I cannot stand. I don't recall EVER using it in everyday conversations.

And yet hilarious, because I realized I don't know what it's ACTUALLY called.

Thanks, Dad. This is 138% your fault.

Gone, but Never Forgotten

There is a club whose mere existence makes me weep. An exclusive club that no one is clamoring to join. One that exists, but should not need to.  It angers me. I look upon it's members in awe. And sadness.

A Gold Star mother.

The mother of any person who has given their life in defense of a nation they love. A soldier. An Airman. A Sailor. A Marine. A member of the Coast Guard. Someone who said they loved their country so much, it was worth risking life and limb.

These mothers did an amazing job of raising such selfless individuals. It doesn't take a Hero to order men into battle. It takes a Hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. These women clearly raised heros.  

As a military wife of nearly 7 years, I should be greatly affected by the lose of many friends, and some family. The country has been at war for 9 years. I married into it. I should know people who have received the dreaded knock on the door. Some how, I have avoided this. With the odds stacked against such a thing, I only know one Gold Star mother.

On April 27, 2007, my former boss Rhonda, lost her son, while he served a tour of duty in Fallujah. He was barely 20 years old.

So tonight, in honor of Rhonda (and her entire family) and in memory of PFC David A. Kirkpatrick, I light a candle.

And in honor and memory of every Gold Star mother and their children.

They may be gone, but they will always be loved and never forgotten.

Real LIfe Super Heroes Make My Day

At the commissary this evening, there was a Wounded Warrior in line in front of me. He was chatting with his wife, when he looked up and smirked at a boy no older than 7 in the next line over. After a few moments, I realized the little boy was staring in awe of this soldier and his prosthetic leg. The little boy pulled on his mom's shirt and said:

"Mommy, I think that guy is a pirate!"

To which the soldier replied:

"Shhhh! Don't blow my cover, I'm really a ninja disguised as a pirate!"