America has always been shaped by our resilience. We’ve endured multiple wars: one that gave us our freedom, one that threatened to tear us apart, and two that involved attacks on US soil.
We’ve faced economic depression, fought against civil injustices, and worked for a better tomorrow. Even now, as we face an unprecedented pandemic that has turned our lives upside down, we are working together and taking care of each other.
In 2016, I had the opportunity to interview one of Hope For The Warriors’ very first Military Spouse and Caregiver Scholarship recipients, a Gold Star spouse who we assisted in her journey of achieving her doctorate in audiology. She shared the first line of her application essay:
“A regular day that began as seemingly innocuous was the day that all of my life’s goals went out the window. It was the day that my husband died.”
There are many healing and helping hands that touch the transition of a military member back to civilian life, especially if there are injuries involved.
The most overlooked and under-appreciated of that group? The family caregiver, be it a spouse, parent, or another member of the family. They perform a near-constant labor of love. They are the front line of all the spilling emotions, mood swings, and sleepless nights.
Many try to balance a full-time job with the role of primary caregiver. Often, they have children too, which adds another vital role of keeping the family safe, secure, and running smoothly.
When John Dale returned home from Iraq in the fall of 2005, all seemed fine.
“He didn’t show any signs of PTSD or any physical injuries,” recalls his wife, Sarah. “He was just happy to be home and alive.”
But once what Sarah refers to as “the adrenaline from combat” subsided, PTSD symptoms came bubbling to the surface. Multiple physical injuries also began to appear. And Sarah’s role as a caregiver began.
By 2014, the year Sarah first became involved with Hope For The Warriors as the recipient of a Caregiver Scholarship to attend graduate school, John’s PTSD evolved to the point that he medically retired from the military.
For many military families, financial awareness and wellness don’t pose a problem; all parties are on the same page when it comes to family finances.
But for many, a lack of financial awareness and wellness creates not only a financial crisis, but can cause a seismic rift between partners.
There are plenty of warning signs, but too often one or both partners play the role of the proverbial ostrich with his head in the sand . . . they just ignore the warnings and keep spending full speed ahead.
If you are worrying about bills, getting out of debt, living paycheck to paycheck, and not having enough money to cover bills, or if you don’t know the total amount of debt owed by your family, or the interest that’s being paid on that debt, there’s probably a problem.
Military life is beautiful, exciting, heartbreaking, and exhausting all at once. From OCONUS to CONUS moves, trainings that seem so frequent it all just becomes a blur, to deployments that go by at a snail’s pace. On what feels like a rare occasion, when you and your spouse get downtime to sit and chat, have you ever reflected on all that you’ve been through as a military family?
Hope For The Warriors is here to tell you that you are resilient. Need proof? Just look at the number of curtains you have accumulated from all the moves. Life in the military, whether you are an active-duty service member, veteran, or family member, necessitates resilience.
Mission: Milspouse is a
501(c)3 nonprofit organization.
EIN Number: 88-1604492
hello@missionmilspouse.org
P.O. Box 641341
El Paso, TX 79904
