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I am blogging challenged.

I cannot figure out how to compress these, so I have created a myspace account for our blogs.

You can read other blogs, like the one below at

http://www.myspace.com/militarymamas

If you build it they will come....
Sunday, June 1, 2008


Nine days and counting until the show hits the air! I am exhausted! I had no idea the HUGE amount of work this project would be when I sent in a proposal over a year ago.

Imagine my surprise when the phone rang a year later and the voice on the other end wanted to know if I was still interested in the project. Are their still soldiers overseas? Are their still families in need? Then I am still interested in the project!

In a weird twist of fate, a man named, Barry Gatzke, who served with my husband was killed last week....not in Iraq, or Afghanistan, or Korea....all places he saw when he toured. No, he was killed after he seperated from the military, on his way home from work. He was hit by a car while riding his motorcycle. However, the phone tree, still in place after all those years, worked the way it always had to bring us news of deployments, deaths or other issues that brought us all back together. When you pick up that phone and it is the voice of someone you served with on the other line it takes you back as though time and space have stopped moving. You remember that no matter how far the distance or how many years, "We are family." My heart went out to his wife and I remembered why it is important to do this show.

The support for the show has been overwhelming! I have met tremendous people over the last several weeks, so willing to step up to the plate and help. The press secretaries in DC have gone above the call of duty to help me network. Jimmy Kay at Task Force Omega, who works tirelessly with veterans, has spread the word. Will and Vance at www.jeepbrokers.com have been great to underwrite the show, as well as agreeing to make some appearances for us. Doc and Tonya over at The National Board are underwriting the show as well as putting me up when I head to Florida. Doug Hamilton is doing an interview as well as underwriting the show. The list just goes on! And the feedback from people about the show has been remarkable.

When you are in the military, and entrenched in that life, it is easy to lose site of the support you have from the American public. I remember, shortly after we moved here from Ft. Campbell, a good friend of ours, Mike, came to town to talk with a class I was teaching. We took him out to eat at TumbleWeed. He was wearing a hat with a special forces symbol on the front. The manager of the restaurant walked over to our table and started talking to our buddy about his time in service. He told us that his brother had been in the service. Then he gave us our whole meal for free. Mike was so moved by that gesture, because his whole life had been dedicated to service. He had missed most of his girls lives being deployed, and no one had ever really said, "thank you."

I learned a lot from Mike and his family, but when doing the show gets really hard, I think of them. I remember how important it is to say, "thank you." A simple lesson we learn when we are small. So, this show is really for all the families like them, who give so much and get so little in return.....We love you! Thanks!

 In Memory of Barry Gatzke