They say that military families are the backbone of their service members. We are there to support, encourage and love. We are a reason to keep pushing toward redeployment. We are the reason for a homecoming.
But I think that a military family means more than just one service member leaning on a collection of supportive people stateside. A military family is a group of people leaning on each other — like Bubba and Forest Gump in a Vietnam downpour. Instead of thinking how hard it is for us to say 'goodbye' to them, we have to remember that it's just as hard for them to say 'goodbye' to us. We are strong for each other.
And it's our love and devotion that makes it that way. That's why I love this A.A. Milne quote:
Of all the military family quotes out there, this is my favorite.
November is Military Family Appreciation Month. Our military leaders may use it as a time to think about the best ways to support military families. We may use it to contemplate the ways the other military families around us hold us up when we feel like we can no longer move forward.
But let's also take a moment to remember how much our family means to itself. Because that love is worth fighting for.
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