My thoughts on April, the Month of the Military child as it comes to a close. Don’t feel pity for my military kids or feel sorry for them. Additionally, don’t point out the fact how hard moving so frequently has been for them. Why? Because for what they have lost they have gained so much more. I know it’s a tough life, that is not lost on me. However, they are fine. Our family’s philosophy is we don’t concentrate on what we leave behind but instead on what we gain when we move.
Reasons to not pity my military kids because they have:
Met superstars, athletes, military heroes and seen Presidents in person
Waved at the British Royal Family
Seen the cherry blossoms in Washington DC
Been invited to Constitution Hall
Ate real pizza in Italy and rode in a gondola
Been to Austria where they took the Sound of Musical tour
Ridden in trains, planes, buses, water taxi, English taxi’s, trams, streetcars, horse and buggy, and cars, lots of cars
Experienced Normandy on the 70th anniversary and stayed in a house owned by the Patton Family
Visited Monte St. Michele
Lived in Germany and Belgium
Traveled by plane to a high school football game in Naples
Visited numerous military cemeteries including Arlington where they got a behind-the-scenes tour by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier sentinels
Been to many military ceremonies in Belgium and stood where battles took place and heroes were honored
They hiked in Shenandoah
Played on the beaches of Destin
Went to Kennedy Space Center
Vacationed at Disney in Florida and Paris
Traveled to South Korea and ate things they couldn’t pronounce
Ate reindeer and whale in Norway
Sailed the Narragansett Bay at sunset
Visited the USS Gerald Ford before it set sail
Saw Niagra Falls, camped in Canada, and went to Toronto
Lived in 8 different states
Been to the real Eiffel Tower in Paris
Took a field trip to see Phantom of the Opera in NYC.
Visited Gettysburg
Went to the Zugspitz, the highest point in Germany
Went skiing in the Alps
Visited Alahambra in Spain
Stood on Rock of Gibraltar
Had an entire island beach to themselves in Portugal
Know what moose milk is
Seen the fjords of Norway
Had VIP access to an Air Show
Swam in the Rio Grande and visited Gruene Hall
Stood in a bullfighting ring in Spain
Visited the Dutch Royal Family’s stables in the Netherlands
Visited Threaves Castle in Scotland and Edinburgh Castle
Went on the Royal Brittania in Scotland
Lived on an island in the Narragansett Bay in Rhode Island
Took a ferry to England
Been to the Neuschweinstein castle
Lived in Mount Rainier’s backyard
Hail the Military Child
These are just a handful of the experience my kids have had. Consequently, they have gained more than they have ever lost. Instead of your giving them your pity try talking to them and asking them to share their experiences. Give them a chance in your group, club, or on your team. Offer them their first job. Welcome them into your home. I want you to be their friend. Have empathy or compassion or be jealous of all that they have seen and done. What I never want you to do is feel pity for them, that doesn’t help them and quite frankly they don’t want it. Hail the military child may we not pity them but follow their example.
Wonderfully written! I am jealous of their experiences.