You have been told you are like the Dandelion,
Thriving and resilient, no matter where the wind takes you.
And you are, Military Child. You are! You did not choose this life, but you love the people that did.
As you get older, perhaps you resemble the Dandelion a little bit less.
Here’s a little ditty to sing your way through present-wrapping fundraisers, tree decorating, or when you need a humorous perspective about our unique and sometimes chaotic lifestyle:
On the first day of Christmas, my soldier gave to me…
A home in a foreign country.
For 2o years, we watched them go.
They were proud to be American service members,
And we were proud to love them.
Our Nation stood proud as they went to avenge the attack on our soil.
We hung yellow ribbons, sang anthems, and waved flags…
If Sam heard her mom give one more “Pollyanna” speech about how lucky she was to be a military kid, she was seriously going to vomit. That feeling also rang true for the word resilient. Message received!
Sam, like so many other military kids got it. They understood the drill. They move every two years, they have to make friends quickly, they are flexible and adaptable, yadda, yadda, yadda.
They were just words.
A haiku is a Japanese form of poetry. It consists of three lines. The first one has five syllables, second has seven, and the third has five once again. While going crazy in the middle of our latest PCS saga, I started writing some of my own. Feel free to laugh and cry and share your own in the comments!
There is a book written by Dr. Seuss entitled, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It really is quite remarkable how this children’s book can both entertain the very smallest child and yet speak volumes to adults, both young and old.
Over the years, it has become a graduation staple, full of autographs by every positive and influential teacher the alumnus has had since preschool. If you have not had the opportunity to read the pages of this book or if it has been a while, I strongly recommend that you seek it out . . . more often. What I believe you will find are comforting words that can inspire you to do, act, and be as you ought to be and not as Life would have you be.
Last week, I challenged my high school juniors to take Robert Frost’s most celebrated poem and write their own version. The assignment instructed them to write about being faced with a decision, something they were unsure of, but might change them in some way.
The only catch was that they had to follow the same rhyme scheme modeled in the poem, and they had to keep the last original line.
Not to BRAGG, but our Army spouses are resourceful and resilient.
Like LEWIS and Clark, their spirit of adventure takes them to the far reaches of the world.
Military Child
Purple ribbon in your hair
Dandelion between your fingers
Laughing with little care
Military child
The places you will go
The goodbyes you’ve already said
The grown up things you know
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