Remember when?

A few days ago, I was talking to my teenage mentor and a retired USMC Colonel.  He is a great man and always has been somewhat like a grandfather to me.  And now as he guides my 18-year-old niece to her time in the Marine Corps and high school graduation, I have remembered just how special this man is.  

He has fought wars where he didn't have a room to sleep in or a chow hall to eat at.  Where if it rained, it poured.  And he too had a family.  A family he went weeks without talking to.  And even then it was an old fashioned letter or maybe a cassette tape.  Because he fought in wars that I cannot imagine, I cannot imagine the sacrifice military families made then.  

Because of this eye widening discussion with the Colonel, I try not to take for granted that I have spoken to my Marine everyday except for 1 since he left 17 days ago.  I have had 3 phone calls and numerous emails from him.  I know everyday that he is safe.  I know everyday that he is eating and sleeping and that he is living well (as well as can be to be living in a foreign, war ridden land on a military installation).

I try not to take this peace of mind for granted.  Because I know 10, 20, or 30 years ago, the communication we enjoy now did not exist.  And if the Colonel and his young wife and family could survive without hearing each others voices for months and years at a time, I can survive this deployment.  I can survive the talking to each other daily.  I can survive the weekly or bi-weekly phone calls.  I can survive it.  And I can survive it with my head held high.  And with dignity.  And with daily thoughts of those who have served when these luxuries did not exist and of those that have fought and died for my freedom.  

I will never take for granted the simple email saying "happy midnight.  I love you."  Because that "I Love You" didn't exist years ago.  And the military family has always gone on.  We have survived.  And we have strived.  And I will carry on the tradition of holding down the home front while my husband is gone.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

(The Colonel I am talking about is the Senior Naval Science Instructor of my graduating high school.  I was in NJROTC all four years under his command.  He served 30 years in the USMC.  And he continues to serve the young students at the high school with his support and firm molding.  He is a real life hero.  I did not disclose his name or the high school because I do not have his permission to release his information.  But I want his legacy to live on no matter what.)