My son was deployed to Iraq on Mother’s Day. My gift from him was a box of expensive chocolates and a big bottle of vitamins! His last words to me were “don’t cry!”. Hopefully, as a Green Beret and a combat medic he will be okay. But I can see the toll it is taking on his wife and 3 year old son. Stressed to the limit. By finances. By lots of responsibilities on a mom who is working, going to school, taking care of a child, a home, a dog, a yard.
I talked to a young neighbor the other day whose boyfriend just returned from 2 deployments. Came back with stress disorder and addictions. And now she needs to find help, not only for him, but for herself.
I sure would like to help with this effort of “helping”. Though I applied for work with the local VA and local military fort that was theoretically recruiting, have not heard back. Despite my great education and experience, I don’t have the “connections”. I haven’t lived in this state long enough to build connections.
The weather here doesn’t help morale. This is the Pacific Northwest. Why am I here? to be close to my daughter in law and little grandson and try to be supportive. We all want to migrate back to CA when we can. Only wildlife should live here where the sun never shines, it is always cold, the days are short, and it rains, and everyone needs to supplement their diets with vitamin D.