tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post2450250437386321903..comments2023-05-27T07:53:58.584-05:00Comments on To Love a Soldier: Clinging to PicturesTo Love a Soldier...http://www.blogger.com/profile/03672150426036117704noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-48977029653046940652012-02-12T14:11:06.060-06:002012-02-12T14:11:06.060-06:00My husband and I take one last photo of the two of...My husband and I take one last photo of the two of us before he goes away even for just a few weeks. He always jokes how I am ruining his career in the CIA by having so many pictures, but I need to document that last moment just in case. I have these pictures all over our house. People think I'm funny, but I have to remember and he hates having his picture and this is the one time he indulges my need to capture his face on film. No one has teh right to take that away from me, not even him. I couldn't be friends with anyone who tried, no matter how innocently.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-22295778403305482172011-12-12T12:20:11.387-06:002011-12-12T12:20:11.387-06:00My baby girl was just 6 wks old when my husband le...My baby girl was just 6 wks old when my husband left. She was 14 months when he returned. A picture of him, his voice recorded, was all she ever knew of that sweet man she now shouts "DaDa!" at. The truth is, without that picture by her rocking chair, taken of them just a few short weeks prior to him leaving, a picture she stared at every time she was nursed, a picture that we talked about endlessly, ad nauseum even, was the one thing that she got. Two days before he was due to return, we started to go through our evening ritual of who was who in the picture and I, for the first time, simply asked her who the man was holding the baby. With an absolute tremor in my heart I asked her that question and without pause, she said, "DaDa." When they "met" for the first time 2 days later, it wasn't a stranger she was seeing, she said "Dada" when he picked her up. THAT'S the power of a photo.<br /><br />Why can't we women just be supportive? I've seen friends post hundreds of photos of their wedding, their children, their lives, and if it gets to be too much, I stop looking. No need for hurtful words followed by the absolutely inane comment, "Don't be mad." How could he be anything but? Her friend just virtually slapped her. If you're tired of seeing all those photos, find something else to look at--like how to make your own heart in a better one. <br /><br />Those last minutes are absolutely precious and imprinted on our minds until our soldier returns.Lorenahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04452498392932035171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-13374703108278010122011-12-12T09:33:04.520-06:002011-12-12T09:33:04.520-06:00It's because of the absurd amount of photos we...It's because of the absurd amount of photos we take of my husband that his family doesn't have to ask, they can follow our every step through our last days together before we spend year or forever apart. Because of these pictures,our daughter (3yrs old) remembers what her Daddy looks like when he's been gone for over half her life. These pictures are all we have when there are no phone calls, email, or skype and the days and nights are just too long. Some just cannot comprehend.Samanthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13509821226087186111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-61698324090782888232011-12-12T09:14:09.678-06:002011-12-12T09:14:09.678-06:00I have hundreds of photos, they map out my life, i...I have hundreds of photos, they map out my life, invoke memories and emotions that can sometimes get lost in our busy lives. We have photos on the walls of Hubby at 'play', my family don't get it, they don't try to, many of my friends don't get it, they though are trying. How do you explain the importance of that one photo of him pulling a silly face or standing with the dog, without explaining the worries and fears. But those words coming from one that knows the life we live, that's meant to understand and support, how shattered your friend must of been, my heart goes out to her. They say friends are there for a life time, a season or a reason....I think she was a season friend.Bellenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-11103181449578275582011-12-12T08:16:06.296-06:002011-12-12T08:16:06.296-06:00I always wished I had pictures closer to the time ...I always wished I had pictures closer to the time Sweet Boy left. On nights when I would miss him terribly, I would get on my computer and look at our pictures together. I even had a file of pictures that was specifically of him. You always need to look back on those times together. Sometimes people don't think of what they are saying to people. It wasn't her place to say that about the pictures. I get tired of looking at pictures of babies just sitting there, but I would never say that to the owner of those pictures, I just choose not to look at them. Everyone copes with things differently. Take as many pictures as you want! No one should get in your way.Catehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15760111205674203450noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-67521967897331524402011-12-12T07:28:15.821-06:002011-12-12T07:28:15.821-06:00OH, MY GOD. I sit here with tears rolling down my ...OH, MY GOD. I sit here with tears rolling down my face. I don't want to curse a blue streak on your blog, but I could. I really could. What kind of "friend" would EVER, and I mean EVER say that??? <br /><br />What a "c" word. Yeah. The C word. That's where I am taking it.<br /><br />God bless our troops, their families and even the small minded, ignorant fools who are guaranteed rights and freedoms by the blood and tears of the military member and their families.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-64308344991839589662011-12-11T23:07:40.710-06:002011-12-11T23:07:40.710-06:00It makes me so mad that women say things like that...It makes me so mad that women say things like that to each other all the time. It doesn't matter that someone else has gone through it too, it doesn't make it hurt less for W, and those pictures are so important to have. Plus, it's freaking facebook, no one was forcing that woman to look at the pictures. Wench.Janehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11145690467668965596noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8484957168950195936.post-29210560785237659252011-12-11T22:26:24.117-06:002011-12-11T22:26:24.117-06:00That is just awful. I think you are spot on. Photo...That is just awful. I think you are spot on. Photos are sometimes all you might have left at the end of the day if they dont come home. Memories can fade but photo's? They linger forever, for generations! They are an important part of life, of history. My husband deployed suddenly and after he left I realised we had hardly any photo's of him, him and the kids, us together and our last family photo was taken when our second son was 6mths old (2.5yrs before!) I felt physically ill that this was our reality and we might never have those photographic memories to hang on to should he not make it home. How do I explain that to the kids? I will never let it happen again, if its the one thing I change in my life from now on there will be photo's galore of all of us together.Anna Lounoreply@blogger.com