My brother joined the United States Army at the age of 18. In the past two years, I have witnessed firsthand the toll it has taken on my parents.
My parents are the type to worry about my brother. If they don't get in contact with him at least two or three times per week, they grow very concerned. It's been very hard on them learning that there are certain things my brother cannot talk to them about. Classified information is not a concept that they--especially my mom--can wrap their heads around. It's hard having a child halfway across the country, much less on the complete opposite end of the world. Communication becomes even more difficult when night shifts and time differences come into the picture.
Basic training was the easiest phase of this journey. Even though communication was limited to 15 minutes once a week, my parents knew exactly where my brother was at all times and, most importantly, that he was safe. Life in a structured environment with a dictated routine was a life my parents could handle, knowing that my brother was facing a very challenging lifestyle. Above all else, they knew he was healthy, safe, and being watched over. Now, not knowing what is going on in his life is eating them alive.
Granted, we are very lucky. Fortunately for my family, my brother is stationed stateside. Does that mean that he's never going to potentially go overseas? No. Does that mean the thought of a deployment never crosses my parents' minds? Absolutely not. A deployment is always a potential endeavor for someone serving our country. As a loved one, not only are you separated from your family, you have zero control over their life. You don't have a say in where they are stationed, how long they are stationed there, what shift they work, nothing. So, in being a parent of someone serving our country, you go from seeing your child all the time to receiving calls and text messages when they're away to in zero communication in extreme cases. And in some instances, you can't know what your child is working on, period. Classified missions happen all the time. That's the scariest part: Not even being allowed to know if your child is safe.
It's hard being the sibling of a soldier. Life as a college student working on exams, essays, and internships seems like nothing in comparison to what my brother has taken on. I cannot bear to think of how hard it is to be the parent of someone serving our country. So to you parents out there, thank you. Thank you for the sacrifice your child is making. Thank you for raising an individual strong and brave enough to take on this amazing challenge and sacrifice. This would not be the land of the free without those brave enough to defend our freedom.
