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me, and I knew she was right even though I failed to understand what it would really mean to all of us, how our lives would be turned around, the time we were about to lose.

Time we'd spend waiting on phone calls from Iraq and Afghanistan. The time we'd waste checking email and for letters that wouldn't come, no Internet connections, and no free time could be found. The time we'd battle our children as single' parents, that our teenagers would be full of angst and anger. The amount of time we'd pull together those around us for candle walks in memory of Americans who fell, either on 9/11 or those in uniform, our own troops.

The time we'd move from posts, apart from each other, away from our community we formed of tears and laughter. The time we'd lose with our husbands converted to alone time~ crazy time for some, crying time for others. All the time, our world was changing around and within us.

I became a Real' Army Wife that fate filled day. Along with my sisters, who held my hands, and with my brothers, those military husbands, who had to learn the same hardships. A lesson we continue to learn because of who we were in the beginning changed during the process. Like caterpillars, we changed into a nest of butterflies on Fort Bragg.

We became are that proud face in a crowd, we found the inner strength forged of faith and tear stains. We stand ready and waiting, arms open wide, waiting for them all to come home safely, like our mothers before us during the Vietnam Era, like our grandmothers before her during Korea and WW2.

I found an understanding when there was no explanation. I learned grace and knew what adversity made of people. Good or bad. Growth or consumption. I watched people fall and fail, unable or unwilling, they faltered.

I kept strong, quietly, from there borne understanding, not judging or finger pointing; I tried to keep what little wits and sense I had. The circle of Army Wives around me grew larger, knitting together the fabric of the life I had grown to love.

I became

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