Freedom Calls Foundation

Please read and pass this on. Good information for our service members and their families!

Freedom Calls Foundation

Working closely with corporate contributors, individuals, and the military the Foundation has deployed its first wireless VOIP telephone and video conferencing services in an Army Camp located in the Sunni Triangle. The Foundation's network offers 50 soft-phones and 20 hard-phones, 6 video conferencing stations, 10 video email stations, and 50 computers with email and internet access. As a result the more than 10,000 soldiers in the camp will be able to communicate with their families and loved ones at home on a regular basis free of charge.
The Foundation's network offers soldiers more than 8,000 miles away the opportunity to participate in milestone family events such as births, birthdays, weddings and school graduations. The Foundation's network will soon include installations at military hospitals here in the United States, to enable soldiers to interact with their newborn children and loved ones who have become ill; And, installations at Family Readiness Centers, to enable families and loved ones (who do not have broadband connections at home) to video conference with soldiers.

Future deployments overseas will encompass as many as 200 additional locations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other locations where our overseas troops lack regular communication with their families and loved ones at home. With your support, we hope to deploy 1-2 camps per month in the coming months.

A hiccup I had to share.

I was all set to post some scoop about an awesome military spouse who started a kick-a$$ business and represents us quite well. She will be the first of many to get shout outs from yours truly. However, I came across this bulletin on MySpace and in light of my recent desire to shed positive light on military spouses, felt obliged to share it. I can't credit the source, I can only thank Tori for posting it and thank whomever passed it along to her. Hey, ladies: you are loved.

Dear Military Wife,

I am an American woman that has no idea what is going on in the military other than what I hear on the news. I have never had to let go of someone so that they could go fight for people that they didn't know, people that sometimes do not appreciate or understand what they are fighting for. I have never had a sleepless night of worry because of a report that another bomb has exploded and I still haven't heard from my husband. I have never had to wait for months on end to hold the one that I loved so. I have never had to tell my children that daddy wasn't coming home tonight because he was so far away fighting for something that they aren't yet old enough to understand. I have never had to hold my head high and suppress the tears as I hear that it will be at least another six months of separation before my loved one gets to come home. I have never had to deal with a holiday away from the one that I thought I would share every day of my life with. And I have never had to feel the panic rising in my heart at the sound of a ringing phone or knock at the door for fear that it is the news that everyone is terrified of getting. For the reasons listed above, I can not tell you that I understand how you feel. I can not tell you that you must be strong. I can not say that you shouldn't be angry, because you "knew what you were getting into when you married a military man". I can not say these things because I have never had to walk in your shoes. What I can say for certain is that because of your unselfish acts of bravery and your husbands willingness to stand up for those who see him as "just another soldier" - - I will never have to walk in your shoes. I do understand that as a military wife you are expected to uphold a certain amount of control, but I never understood how you could do it, until now. I have figured out that you are not like other women. You are of a special breed. You have a strength within you that holds life together in the darkest of hours, a strength of which I will never possess. The faith you have is what makes you stand out in a crowd; it makes you glow with emotion and swell with pride at the mention of The United States of America. You are a special lady, a wonderful partner and a glorious American. I have more respect for your husband than I could ever tell you, but until recently I never thought much about those that the soldier leaves at home during deployment. Until this moment I could never put into words exactly what America meant to me. Until this moment, I had no real reason to.... Until I heard of you. Your husband and his military family hold this nation close, safe from those who wish to hurt us...but you and those like you are the backbone of the American family. You keep the wheels in motion and the hearts alive while most would just break completely down. Military families make this nation what it is today. You give us all hope and you emit a warming light at the end of a long dark tunnel. Because of you and your family...I am able to be me. I am able to have my family. I am able to walk free in this great land. Because of you and your family, I can look ahead to the future with the knowledge that life is going to be okay. Because of you and your family, I can awake to a new day, everyday. I realize that you are a stronger person than I will ever be because of these things and I just wanted to take the time today to say thank you to you and your family for allowing me that freedom. I will never be able to repay this debt to you, as it is unmatchable. However, I hope that you know that no matter where you are... what you are doing... what has happened today... or what will happen tomorrow... Your husband will NEVER be "just another soldier" to me.... And you, dear sweet lady, will never be forgotten. You are all in my prayers everyday and I pray that God will bring you back together with your loved one safely.

That's good stuff.

Today marks the 96th anniversary...

...of the sinking of the Titanic. Wow.

I know we've all seen the movie and the subject has gotten its share of conversation, but I still can't help but think what a nightmare it must have been for those poor souls. I went on a cruise not too long ago and I can say with a good degree of certainty that if the boat had started sinking I would have been in complete denial. It just doesn't seem possible for something so brawny to give way and plummet you to your death.

On a more positive note, it is in fact Monday and I'm actually in a decent mood! Feeling motivated about the things I [plan to] accomplish this week!

Have a good one.

Oh looky, a blog!

I honestly don't know how to begin. I'm about 3 or 4 years behind the times, apparently. Anyway, why am I here?

What I would ultimately like to do is keep myself busy with new projects (that are already underway) and connect with some other military family members. My husband is on active duty but currently is assigned to a billet that has taken us away from any installation and plopped us into civilian life. Don't get me wrong-- I'm certainly not complaining! Not only do we get the perks of civilian life like no deployments, making friends with all different types of "locals" and even living in a great area. On top of that, if you're a military wife, right about now you're thinking my old man must be either a recruiter or on I & I duty. It's actually neither of those. He does work a lot and get those crazy night and weekend phone calls but he is rarely out of town at all. So, basically right now we have it made. And I would never look a gift horse in the mouth. The thing is, though, that I miss being in the thick of things with other Marine wives and the resources that are available to us (when we go to the trouble to find and use them). I'm glad that I can TRULY pick my friends here of my own volition and don't have to form associations by default because my husband works with so-and-so's husband. At the same time, if you're married to an active duty service member you will know what I mean when I say that only other military wives GET certain things. When I tell my close girlfriend here that we can't hang out on a Thursday night because the old man has a PFT or a hump the next morning, it doesn't quite register. No offense to her-- she's been busy living a relatively normal life for years now and would never have needed to know about such things. And she certainly can grasp them when explained. There's something about the having to explain, though, that makes a girl miss her "sisters." And of course I am still in touch with many of my friends from over the years but these are, of course, long distance relationships.

What I'm getting at here is that I am truly enjoying our life right now. I wouldn't dare complain, especially given the remote possibility that some dear sister whose husband is deployed for the umpteenth time (and I HAVE been there, by the way) might read this and think what a presumptuous witch I am. No, no complaints. I just miss some aspects of what we might describe as "our" life. I miss my girls. I miss the commissary (as shocked as I am to ever be having that thought!). I miss cadence and ooh rah and yellow ribbons. I miss feeling it. It would be a stretch to say that I'd rather be feeling it than be where I am. But being a greedy little snot, I hope to find a way to have my cake and maybe eat a little slice of it, too, by reaching out to some other ladies online. There's something comforting about talking to women who are familiar with the terms "Comrats" and "BAH." Are you ladies out there? And, if so, do you have room for one more? I promise I don't bite!

At the top of my page is a link to a CafePress store I started recently. I want to be clear in saying that while it would be fun to sell something, I frankly don't expect much to come of it and am mainly doing that for fun and another outlet. I'm new at this whole thing and just want to have fun with it. I'm going to have some handmade items for sell on Etsy.com soon, too. And in all honesty I will be humbled and shocked if I sell anything! But these little projects are giving me an outlet making me feel as though I still have some sort of connection to "our" life. I just want anyone who might read this to know, I won't spam you and I'm not a salesperson. I'm just a chick who's feeling a little out of her element and decided to tinker around with some things that might make me feel a little bit more connected. If you do happen to look at any of my stuff and just tell me that it's cute (certainly without buying anything) I won't be mad at ya, though. Or tell me what sucks about it, too. I think I want to prove to myself that I still rate bragging rights!

If you're reading this, thanks for bothering. I'm sure you have better things to do. And if you're reading this and your husband or wife is deployed, BIG THANKS for THAT. I'm a big old sap and I wish I could say something or reach out in some way to every single one of you. There's a silly little Marine wife out here who appreciates you and your service members more than you know.