Once in a Blue Moon

Did You See That Blue Moon Tonight?

      OOOOOhhhh, AAAAAhhhh, that Blue Moon thing....

Once in a Blue Moon

The Poem I Wrote Which Means the Most to Me

It is not easy to be the wife of a Soldier, especially during war.  I remember what a difficult place in life I found myself when I first wrote this poem.  I thought I had made it.  I thought Randy was coming home to stay.  He was not, he had been gone for two years to Afghanistan and Iraq. When he returned I knew he was called to go back with the State Department.  I wrestled with the Lord on that one, but in the end, I knew he was called. I had known from the first conversation we ever had he was called to be a Soldier, a leader, the kind which is becoming more rare all the time.  He is a soft spoken man, and was never one of those loud, gregarious, and overbearing type of leaders.  When one is quietly confident, it usually relates to accomplishments already made, humility which is sincere, and it is a natural by-product of true honor.

He has been gone another three years, and the opportunity for me to join him in Germany is the only thing that has kept me going for a while now.  I cannot wait.

Sometimes  it is difficult to get a gift for a Soldier, I always think very hard about what to get mine.  For Christmas I got him a little canoe.  When he was a kid he would  go fishing with his dad in a little row boat, his dad has been gone many years now, but he still talks about fishing in that boat with his dad.  Now it is time for Valentine's and I decided that carefully  chosen words of admiration and love were fitting,  I wasn't going to share them with anyone but him, but when he read them, he felt they might speak to others as well... and so here for every Soldier, and everyone who loves a Soldier, words from my heart.  To my beloved, Happy Valentine's Day!

If

If there stood before me 1000 men,

Each of whose lives I had observed again and again.

If I had watched them closely at command,

Of Soldiers, equipment, and resources try to meet war’s great demands.

If I knew their lives, credentials, and previous work,

How they handled things, and I were privy to each little quirk.

If the fate of personal liberty, the freedom of us all,

Hung in the balance, and without the right leadership would forever fall.

If there would be before us, only one chance,

To meet in battle some terrible foe, and the art of war to dance.

If by the wisdom and expertise of only one man,

The defenses of our country would fail or stand.

If you, my love, stood among those men in their rows,

The one whom no other I have ever loved so.

If somehow it were my duty the right decision to deliver,

My mind could easily make the choice, but my heart would quiver.

If I knew the man I chose would never come home,

Could I give what it cost, the most valuable thing I own?

If in my decision, would the moral courage by which I have watched you live,

Empower me to do the right thing, and the sacrifice to give.

If as I considered all that lay in the balance, to me you would clearly state,

What your own choice would be and how you would face your fate.

If, as I know would happen, I knew who stood above the rest.

Could I, in selfishness, select the one who was second best?

If there stood before me 1000 men,

This I pray before God, that I never will know how it ends.

 

I Saw the Sad Eyes

 

  

I Saw the Sad Eyes 

I saw the sad eyes of women who had been betrayed,
By those who from honor, never should have strayed.

They could not have known what would come to them,

 Integrity was pledged and they believed without a whim.

In a dark hour their faith and loyalty was shattered. 
Their lives, without regard, left broken and tattered.

 

Time seemed strangled and unable their injuries to mend.
To go on with life seemed to have nowhere to begin.

Then in chorus the sad eyes looked around in panic and pain,
In a moment they knew other eyes revealed the same stain.

                                                                    
 Hearts united and power and change came with more ease,      
 The weakest were lifted first by the women from their knees.

Words and tears were shared and brought balm to their soul wounds.
Slowly in unity they overcame, and the living of lives resumed.

 I saw the sad eyes of women who had been betrayed. 

By those who from honor, never should have strayed.

     

The photos of eyes of women posted as a part of this poem are cropped from pictures taken at the Service Women's Action Network conference in April of 2013. I was privileged to be asked to attend this conference. These women are all survivors of Military Sexual Trauma. There is one exception, the eyes portrayed in black and white at the top of the post, are those of a non-survivor, her father attended the conference, as did several parents of Victims.  Her name was Carrie, she was a Marine, and she took her own life after being unable to cope with the beating and rape she sustained while in service, perpetrated by those serving along side of her.  Her father, a retired Marine works tirelessly to bring justice for her. We gathered to celebrate survival, offer support to one another, to work for change, and to mourn for and remember those who did not survive.  One of our goals was the passage of the Ruth Moore Act, which provides for equal consideration for those Service Members who suffer PTSD due to MST, and provision for the same benefits and services as provided those who suffer PTSD due to combat.  On June 04, 2013, it became law.

Another of our goals was to change how cases of Military Sexual Trauma are investigated and handled, and December of 2013 saw progress in that area as well.  We owe so much to those who serve, our prayers, our love, and our support.  That support should always include demanding that at all times the military operates from a place of sacred duty and honor, and that every Service Member be valued, and promises from our government kept.