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 oftenoverlooked, is the military family.  Most of us do not stop to thinkabout the responsibilities and pain these families bear – especiallyaround 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 fromThanksgiving 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 haveit much easier.  Military spouses suddenly find themselves in the role of single parent – taking on the roles of mother, father, accountant,mechanic, home repair expert and full-time chauffeur of the family –often in cities where they have no family to call upon for support.

Deployment during the holidays means that the military dependents commemorate Christmas dinner and ring in the New Year as an incomplete unit, while the deployed member spends the day without family in a foreign, or even hostile country.  Imagine how heartbreaking it must be for a parent consoling a child who doesn’t understand why Mommy or Daddy can’t be home with them to enjoy the Thanksgiving turkey, open presents on Christmas or watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

Military families are also called upon to move often – relinquishing a stable home life, leaving behind friends, and the negative impact of this transient lifestyle can hit the hardest during the holidays. This is a season meant to be celebrated with loved ones, but what about the military family who just moved to a new town and can’t afford to travel to visit family or friends?Another way that military families sacrifice is the emotional toll from worrying over the safety of their loved one and the stress of this lifestyle.  But even with these powerful emotions present, they try to keep the holiday mood festive even though part of their family is away.

So, as you consider helping those in need this holiday season orthroughout the year, recognize the many sacrifices military familiesmake.  If you know a military family with a deployed spouse, consider making them a part of your family over the holidays. Invite them over for Thanksgiving dinner, offer to take a family holiday portrait to send to the deployed family member, or give them long distance phone cards to help them keep in touch.  However you may choose to help amilitary family, consider it a gesture of thanks for the sacrificesthey have made to help preserve our freedom.  By serving their families, you are are honoring those who serve our country.

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