In the few years I have been traveling my military life I have encountered some of the most amazing people. These are women who endure long deployments with a smile and somehow manage to take care of their own children and be best friends and emotional bulwarks to me at the same time.
I have also seen watched people I would consider average like myself grow into some of the most amazing, beautiful people on the planet. Some of them are gold star wives who found a way, through their husband’s death, to reach into the lives of others. And some of them are spouses just like you and me who have seen deployment and decided that instead of wallowing they were going to go out there and empower others.
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” -- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Life isn’t always going to be fun and games. There will be “goodbyes” after our “hellos,” tears with the joy and heartbreak when we don’t want it. But if we let them these can be moments that define us in a good way. Like this post says, we can look at deployment as an “opportunity to become more beautiful.”
