Army Mom

The average Army Mom can be any age.

She spends her time worrying, praying and thinking about her Army soldier/child. She is not normal by any civilian mom standards.

She spends time baking cookies, writing letters, packing boxes and waiting for phone calls from her soldier child.

An Army Mom may work a fulltime job out of the home, or she may be a stay at home mom. She does volunteer work when she can. She uses what little spare time she has to check with her Ya-Ya Army Mom friends, whose soldiers have become like children of her own.

The Army Mom might have expected to be babysitting her grandkids and baking them cookies, with her grown children working in a civilian job not far away. This is not the life she expected, but one that she now has to embrace.

She now has standard dark circles under her eyes from lost sleep, from sitting up all night in front of Fox News, MSNBC, or CNN. She is also just as likely to miss sleeping because of making stockings, packing boxes, writing to her soldier, worrying about her soldier or even staying up chatting and comforting another Army Moms friend.

She is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than before her child left home, because of the stress that has caused her to eat too much or too little.

She still washes the clothes, cleans the house, cooks the meals, but with only half of her heart in it, because now the one pulling her heartstrings is very far away. Sometimes she forgets to clean the house, but she never forgets to check her Army Moms mail.

She reads the DOD casualty lists and holds her breath, hoping there is not a name on the list that she recognizes. Then she cries tears, for the mom whose child's name was on the list.

She is the saddest and proudest that she has ever been. She never felt the kind of pride before that she felt when she first saw her soldier march onto the parade field at BT graduation.

She has wept in public and in private, sometimes in the shower where no one can hear her, for her child's safety, for all the soldier's safety.

She feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through her body and soul now, as it has more meaning now than it ever had before.

She so misses her baby, the one she held and rocked, nursed, fixed the boo-boos, taught to ride that bike, drive that car, held close during storms and monsters in the closet. That monster in the closest is real now, but she is just as strong, holding on, praying and comforting her soldier whenever he/she needs it.

Remember her, always, when you see her in the grocery store, in the mall, or putting up new yellow ribbons or flags. You will know her, she is the one with the ribbons, flags, pins on her chest. She is the mom who had the soldier who is defending your rights, their rights, everyone's rights and she has earned your respect and admiration.

For our Army Moms
"Lord, hold the mothers of our soldiers in your loving hands. Protect them, watch over them, comfort them, as their prayers go up for all the soldier's safety. Give them peace and a few hours much needed sleep. Help them, God, when they curl up in a little ball and think they can't go on. Help them to recognize their strength. Bless them, God, for the selfless acts they perform each and every day. Amen."
Karen McMann 2003