November is Military Family Appreciation month — a time to honor all aspects of the military family, including the mothers who hold it together at home.
Because of You
Because of You. Right out of school You followed Your new husband and his life of a military commitment.
Because of You, we also learned to adapt to new towns and new people that were all different.
This took courage and trust to make a home life for your family.
Because of You, we learned our own courage to endure the constant changes, make new friends and enjoy the best of what these new place had to offer.
You took advantages of those new adventures in the States and Europe.
Because of You, we all have a great love of travel. We share the excitement to see new places and their cultures and histories. Not many people get these advantages growing up. To us it was normal and our friends were living similar military lives.
When Dad had orders for the Korean and Vietnam Wars, You took us home to Elgin.
Because of You, we got to feel what going home felt like. We saw we had family, extended relatives and old friends. We learned to belong and hang on to special friendships there, too.
Besides making each place a home for us You also took many jobs along the way for extra income.
Because of You, we have learned good work ethics and how to work with others no matter what the work is.
With those jobs, You used that to give us even more special leaning experiences. They were Church Camps, Girl Scout excursions and trips you planned with your friends.
Because of You, we learned to appreciate new cultures and others way of life. We learn how similar we really are to others and the things we have in common.
You made friends wherever You were and even learned their languages.
Because of You, we learned friends are valuable and can be any race, any color and live anywhere.
Because of all You are and all You give, You have made us all we are today. We can only strive to pass on these important values and morals to our own kids and grand kids.
Valerie Williams was born in El Paso, Texas. A military brat, her father served 20 years and before retiring to her birth place. She's been married to her husband, Mike, for 40 years and have twins. They love to travel.
