I began to take their photos, and that’s when the miracle happened. Two of the people I care most about in this world were displaying the most powerful emotion known to man: LOVE. Love can be described in cliche, commercialized, movie dramatized and even counterfeit terms, but the REAL DEAL; is something we military spouses know a thing or two about. I watched my husband and little girl dance through my viewfinder days before I knew he would be leaving again, and it was then that I realized the driving force behind the actions we military families carry out regularly; love. My husband’s willingness to make the most of his time at home and my willingness to do double duty while he is gone is the very essence of love. His ability to leave the people he cares about most in this world to ensure safety and protection to people he’s never met is the very essence of love. My children’s ability to move day to day without a key member of their lives is the very essence of love. Love, is what enables us to do what we do.
Love is not just a manifestation that is supposed to be exhibited on one designated day a year; but rather, it is a sure constant that is always a driving force; in our lives especially. I’ve never witnessed a community that is more loving and supportive than that of the military community. I’ve met people who I consider my family. I know that if I ever needed anything I would have at least a handful of people willing to help me. I have been shown more love than most people have felt in a lifetime by people who don’t share a single strand of the same DNA. I know, and this is hard for me to even type on a keyboard, that if he needed to, my number one guy would make the ultimate loving gesture for any one of his “brothers and sisters,” that bear the same flag on their shoulder and those adopted siblings would do the very same for him.
Love, is something we thoroughly understand. Sometimes it takes a small act, like a simple daddy daughter dance, to realize its capacity and important nature in our every day lives. For us it is something we practice regularly, display often, and rely on whole-heartedly. There is no better example of this defining and driving power than the very community we find ourselves a part of; the military community.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that man lay down his life for his friends.”
