Families Serve Too
Going through a deployment is like going through a blender. Everything is mixed up and intensified – good things and bad things. It’s not that life isn’t regular life… it’s just that everything you feel feels bigger. Some days are pretty tough. During the last deployment we started calling them “survival days.” As soon as we realized we were having a survival day, we backed off and tried to give ourselves the space to pull ourselves together again.
Sometimes the only thing that helped would be talking with another military spouse – even if only by e-mail. It’s hard to understand why things are as hard as they are if you’re not in a military family or very close to one. I knew that another military spouse would completely understand – enough said.
I have made a conscious effort to make sure my kids have the same opportunity. They need to be among other “military kids” who understand the stresses of being a military kid during a deployment. That was hard during the last deployment, but there are more opportunities for them this time around.
A huge new opportunity this time in our area is an Operation Purple Camp being hosted at Pioneer Camp in Angola. I know lots of people have not heard of the camps because the program is only about 4 years old and there has not been one in our area before. These free, week-long, overnight camps are hosted at locations across the country and are free to children of deployed/deploying service members from all branches (“purple”).
I was sold when I saw the phrase “They Serve Too” on the website. Among the kids at camp, the things they are going through with the deployment will be normal. It will be an escape from the worries of war, with normal camp activities like swimming, canoeing, campfires, and large group games. But it will also help them connect better with what their dad does with activities like desert camp, MREs, map and compass skills, ropes course, etc. Local military units get involved and bring equipment and training that is unique to the local military community. Of course, their mom will get a break that week, too!
Applications are only accepted until May 5th. They have a website at www.operationpurple.org and if you know of a military family with children spread the word. It can be hard to hear about these kinds of resources when you’re in the guard and reserve because we’re so spread out. The local camp can also field questions or help them apply if the online form is busy, and can even give a tour of the facilities.
Thank you to the staff at Pioneer Camp for making this camp available here for our children. The stresses feel so much bigger during deployment, but so does the impact of a kindness.
-- Susan Knowles
