Wednesday, September 11, 2013

9/11/2013

Here I sit, another year gone by, another day where my Facebook feed will flood with images and shared tales of where you were when the towers were hit.  I was planning on going to visit a friend of mine at Fort Riley but when I realized that it would be on this date, I suddenly felt like I couldn't go there.  We were stationed at Fort Riley on 9/11/01.  I don't want to sound like my world ended that day but my world did shift and there have been many thing since then that have caused me sadness.

That being said, I want to reflect today on how we have overcome.  While there has definitely been negative in our life, there has been so much more positive.  We have endured.  The past 12 years have been hard on our family.  Stressful training missions and lengthy deployments.  Clouds of the unknown hovering over our heads.  What have we gained from those situations? Strength.  We are stronger as a family, as a couple and as individuals.  We have been asked to do things that crush other relationships and we have survived...not only survived but THRIVED.  We have learned to appreciate today because we have been witness to those who lost their tomorrows.  We have been in the company of real heroes, men and women who continue to live and honor a legacy of courage and bravery after life changing injuries, both seen and unseen.  Let's not forget the families who stand beside them and became heroes themselves.

I am proud to be married to a man who continued to serve his country despite knowing that he could/would leave his family time and time again and knowing his own life would be at risk.  He did it for us and he did it for you.

"The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him." G.K. Chestertson
I made this during Kevin's deployment to Iraq in 2009


It's not likely that I will ever forget where I was on September 11, 2001.  I will forever have the images of my babies faces etched in my mind as I wondered what the future held for them.  Today I can look at my boys who are growing into amazing young men and see that they are resilient, strong and most importantly survivors.  They have endured and thrived like I could not have even imagined.

September 2001
August 2013, welcoming home their dad after 362 days apart


The towers may have fallen but America didn't and neither did the Albrecht Squad.
Probably my favorite picture of the Albrecht Squad


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