Daughter of a Veteran

I Will See You Again

My dad was in the military for 21 years. He was a paratrooper for 8 years then went into infantry for 13 years and he retired as a corporal.

Life as a military daughter had its up and downs and I'm sure many of you reading this that are related to a military member knows what it's like.

My family had to celebrate my first Christmas early because my dad was getting deployed. We celebrated at the end of October.

I remember the homecomings, especially one where me and my little sister made a welcome home poster for our dad.

I remember at night I would wake up to my dad screaming because of his nightmares. I remember the get togethers with his until when they were all home and we would have a big BBQ. It was like a second family.

I remember moving a lot, having to always be the new kid...and I remember my mom handing my dad divorce papers a couple of days after he returned....

He apologizes to me everyday for not always being home and for not being able to see me grow up. I keep reassuring him that everything is okay and that he is here now to continue to watch me grow up still. My dad is finally getting help now for his PTSD. He is seeing a therapist and it is helping him a lot and I am glad that he is able to get the help he needs.

Him and his old military buddies still get together. They are on the same baseball team in the summer and hockey team in the winter. I babysit for a couple of them when they need a babysitter for their kids and I will say most of them haven't seen me since I was 4. Well I'm 19 now haha. So let's just say they are surprised at how much I have grown and can't believe I am already 19.