The Good Life – November-December 2015

Remembering
Military
Families
During the
Holidays
During the holiday season,
many of us turn our attention
to those in need. One group
that endures great hardship,
but is often overlooked,
is the military family. Most of us
do not stop to think about the
responsibilities and pain these
families bear – especially around the
holidays. Throughout the year, they
sacrifice time spent with their spouse
or parent during deployments, they
sacrifice friendships and a stable
home life each time they move across
country, and they sacrifice peace of
mind because they love someone in a
dangerous occupation.
These stresses are only magnified from
Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. And
even though military deployment is
necessary to help keep peace around
the world, for military families it
means long separations, emotional
distress and lifestyle adjustments.
While ordinary working parents may
say goodbye to their children for
the next eight hours, parents leaving
for deployment say goodbye for the
next six months. Imagine missing
the birth of your child; fearing your
infant will forget who your are; or
feeling guilt over knowing your
spouse is struggling alone, while at
the same time worrying that your
family will do a little too well without
you. The family left at home doesn’t
have it much easier. Military spouses
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