Hearts of Valor Retreat

This past weekend I spent three days sharing with families of Wounded Warriors. One have to believe that they are the strongest women on Earth and that is what we hear constantly from people who support military families. As I do some reflection exercise about this weekend, I cannot avoid but to think of the various backgrounds, the variety of flavors in culture, professions, passion and military branches these women represented. Despite this variety there is one thing that really stands out; we are one family, we see pass our differences and we become more similar than ever. God has allowed me to speak to these spouses and the opportunity that Hearts of Valor provided, was difficult to put a value to it, because there is a wealth of experiences lived during this weekend; there is nothing that can pay for such wonderful memories. It is my hope that each of the spouses and mothers that attended the retreat were able to see this event was coordinated with sacrifice, love and commitment from the Operation Homefront Hearts of Valor staff (http://www.heartsofvalor.org) and the “anonymous” financial supporters. As I sit here in the airport waiting for my flight, I can’t help but to wonder, how many of the people seating around me, completely submerged into their own World know how empowering families of Wounded Warriors can be? We are a new breed of veteran’s families, we endured frequent and long deployments, and we have the power to change history. Back during the Vietnam era, spouses didn’t have support and help to cope with their new life after war; the public was not supportive and they suffered a great deal of pain, sorrow and loneliness. I always thank them because they stood up to make sure this war wasn’t going to open a space for this insensitive and painful past to resurface; they made sure our Wounded Warriors were recognized and valued for their bravery and sacrifices. We, as spouses and families of Wounded Warriors, lets stand up together, as one voice and let the World know, that yes we are strong, we move on with this heavy load but we will carry on and we will stand up for our brave Warriors, for their memory, for their love and courage to our great Nation. We stand up for liberty and we stand up for Freedom, and we are ready to take on this new fight in our lives face all these challenges because this battle is ours and we will thrive, because we are one body, one family, one soul and one spirit, we are the Hearts of Valor.