Well again I have been going at top speed. But now that I am down with a double ear infection and strep this is a great time to catch up on my blog...
I was blessed to be able to spend the first week of September in Chicago again with people in all areas of the military working together to build a stronger more resilient force and families.
We spent hours in work shop groups with all the senior leaderships discussing and building plans to grow our programs. We know that the military will not go backwards in terms of our families being taken care of. They have made promises in writing in way of the Family Covenants all across America.
The key leadership has made mental health for our Service members and Families a top priority and we are not going to ever let them do anything but go forward on these promises.
So far this year alone Alaska has lost over 24 Soldiers , that means children without a parent to be there this Christmas or for birthdays, weddings, graduations. Spouses who have lost the one person they thought they would spend their life with.
Granted in America this is an all volunteer force, but we owe them and we will take care of those left behind.
The conference made sure that we all stood firmly on the same ground as to what we felt was a priority for our Troops and Families.
Since I have been home it has also been non stop, I am trying to get out to all the rural areas at least every 6 weeks . We went to Ft Greely twice in the last week and met with the Families there. What an amazing strong group . They are so positive in light of being so far away and so cold there! They nonetheless have an incredible strength between them and I look forward to watching it flourish and grow.
This upcoming month I will be in several towns across Alaska visiting with the National Military Families Org. Doing town halls in Anchorage, Kodiak and Fairbanks , listening to and working with the Families of our military.
So yes I have been busy , however I have found some time to get in some fun stuff. While in Chicago I got to go to a Cubs game ! Which they won! I must have been their good luck! We went to the Navy Pier and had deep dish pizza !
I got to go to Santa's House in the North Pole!!!
And I am running right into the Holidays ( my favorite time of year) and working to plan a Halloween Carnival for our militarys youth and a Christmas feast for our Families.
So while I seem to be burning at both ends honestly at the end of every day I couldn't be more blessed. Its amazing what you can do each day no matter how large or small to change the lives of another. I'm committed to making that difference for the rest of my life. A little each day.
I was blessed to be able to spend the first week of September in Chicago again with people in all areas of the military working together to build a stronger more resilient force and families.
We spent hours in work shop groups with all the senior leaderships discussing and building plans to grow our programs. We know that the military will not go backwards in terms of our families being taken care of. They have made promises in writing in way of the Family Covenants all across America.
The key leadership has made mental health for our Service members and Families a top priority and we are not going to ever let them do anything but go forward on these promises.
So far this year alone Alaska has lost over 24 Soldiers , that means children without a parent to be there this Christmas or for birthdays, weddings, graduations. Spouses who have lost the one person they thought they would spend their life with.
Granted in America this is an all volunteer force, but we owe them and we will take care of those left behind.
The conference made sure that we all stood firmly on the same ground as to what we felt was a priority for our Troops and Families.
Since I have been home it has also been non stop, I am trying to get out to all the rural areas at least every 6 weeks . We went to Ft Greely twice in the last week and met with the Families there. What an amazing strong group . They are so positive in light of being so far away and so cold there! They nonetheless have an incredible strength between them and I look forward to watching it flourish and grow.
This upcoming month I will be in several towns across Alaska visiting with the National Military Families Org. Doing town halls in Anchorage, Kodiak and Fairbanks , listening to and working with the Families of our military.
So yes I have been busy , however I have found some time to get in some fun stuff. While in Chicago I got to go to a Cubs game ! Which they won! I must have been their good luck! We went to the Navy Pier and had deep dish pizza !
I got to go to Santa's House in the North Pole!!!
And I am running right into the Holidays ( my favorite time of year) and working to plan a Halloween Carnival for our militarys youth and a Christmas feast for our Families.
So while I seem to be burning at both ends honestly at the end of every day I couldn't be more blessed. Its amazing what you can do each day no matter how large or small to change the lives of another. I'm committed to making that difference for the rest of my life. A little each day.
