Political Post

To those of you who saw the link for the post and then were confused when it wasn't there...I totally apologize. I have so many strong, strong, super strong feelings about all of this, and I poured my heart into a blog to get it all out of my system. However once I posted it, I had a few mixed feelings about it.

1. I knew my parents would be horrified to see my blunt comments out for the world to see, and I really think if I left it up my dad would not let me in his house over Christmas...Yes, I am 29 years old and still care what others (especially my family) think.

2. Even though Norman proofed it and approved, I would continue to wonder if someday this would come back to haunt me...and him. The military is a strange beast, and given the direction he is wanting to go in his career, I don't want to put something out there so blatantly that may end up hurting him. He has completely disagreed with my feelings on this and feels that I have every right on this earth to speak freely - especially since he fights and has deployed twice for the right to have it.

So that's why it's no longer posted. I have kept it, and if you wish to read it regardless of the negativity it contains just let me know and I'll send it to you.

My friends all know that I am blunt, sometimes too much so. This election brought forth in me feelings I didn't even know could exist when dealing with politics. I am passionate about this subject, and I know the decisions that have been made will continue to have effects for many many years to come. Especially since we are here in DC in the thick of it, and Norman is up on the Hill in the middle of it. It is a completely different life here...nothing like I've ever known, and nothing like I ever could have expected. When you live here, it is impossible to not take things personally. I drive past Arlington Nat'l Cemetery almost every day. I see the women who are barely in their 20's weeping and holding onto headstones because thats all they have to physically hold on to. Every visit to the cemetery has brought me to tears because when I have gone, I end up learning from the widows about their husbands...the person that gave his life for me, and THAT makes politics a personal matter. The hugs I have had and the conversations I have had with the women there have forever changed me.

Some people wonder why so many people are so worked up over this. What's done is done and we should move on. But this is a deeply personal, emotional situation - and perhaps the only people who can understand are my military wife friends. To so many people, what happens is only a story on the 6 o'clock news, but for me it's my life. These decisions mean whether my husband will get to stay home with his family or whether he will get orders to leave us for months at a time. These decisions make me wonder if I will get the knock at my door that my precious friend Sara got. Those horrors that people hear about...they actually happen. And if they happen to my friends they can happen to me.

So I guess all I can say without getting into the emphatic, incredibly blunt and highly controversial feelings I hold, is that this is important. Politics are important. Who we elect is important, and we need to use discretion in the future. That's all I can say. My heart is breaking and I am in tears. I am done for now.