My dad is my hero; always has been, always will be. Whenever I was making parent projects and we were given the option of mom or dad, it was always dad. It’s not that I don’t love my mom, but my dad is everything that I think a person should be; honest, humble, brave, loyal, stubborn and strong. There is no one I’d rather be compared to than my dad. But my dad isn’t just my dad; he’s a soldier. He belongs to the U.S government and there are several times when he’s been needed.
Growing up, whenever I wanted to do something there was always the catch of "we’ll see what your father’s schedule looks like." Even now, he’s gone for weeks, even months on end, and it’s tough, it really is.
I've missed birthday parties; sleepovers, mall outings and various other events that every other girl my age got to do. I've gotten dragged to Army picnics, brunches, and other family-centered activities on weekends instead of sleeping in. I’ve seen my mother struggle to raise two children and put on a brave face when her husband is overseas and the only means of communication she has is the occasional phone call. Otherwise, she just gets letters, weeks late.
This isn’t one of those sad posts; I don’t think that I’ve been robbed of any time with my dad, in fact just the opposite. I cherish every second more than I probably would if he was around 24/7. You learn to let the little things go because sometimes being mad isn’t worth it.
My dad’s missed concerts and other school events, but whenever he picked me up from school in his uniform, I was always so proud of him and how cool everyone thought he was. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a butt sometimes, and he can still drive me crazy. However when he comes home with a new medal or a promotion or something else that he earned, I can't help but feel amazed and grateful that he’s my father.
So I guess what I’m trying to say here is that having someone you love in the military sucks. When they have to leave early in the morning or miss out on occasions with the family, you can’t help but feel like something is being taken from you. But that’s not what that is. They’re doing what they have to do, what they’ve been ordered to do.
I know in my case, my dad has been in the Army so long, that that’s who he is. From this comes the age old advice of just adapting. Understanding that my dad couldn’t be there on my 16 or 18 or every single birthday is hard, just as hard as understanding that sometimes I had to miss things to pick my siblings up from school or take them somewhere they needed to be.
But understanding that he’s got other duties is a lot easier (and more important) than being mad for doing his duty and serving his country.