When A Sister Deploys

Even though there are several couragous women serving in our armed forces today, I still tend to conjure up an image of a young man when I hear the word "soldier."  Maybe that impression is leftover from watching films about WWII and being confronted with the reality of young men (boys really) being sent off to war, away from home with, in those days, not that much training and a strong likelihood of never returning - and if they did return, they weren't the same as when they left.

But it's not just men who deploy these days, it's women too.

My sister is currently enroute to Afghanistan for the second time and it's an odd feeling.  Once a little girl with blonde curls, chubby cheeks, and bright blue eyes, she now wears camoflauge and combat boots with her hair cut short to obey the military's uniform code.

No one can completely prepare you for when the time comes that a spouse, a parent, a child, or a friend must enter a war zone.  By no means is it easier to see a young man go off to war, but I imagine parents of little girls never dream of their little angels growing up to become combat soldiers.  A nurse, a teacher, a tough cookie in the boardroom - probably.  A soldier who may be required to save lives or even give up her own life to save another - probably not.

While my sister and I currently live across the country from each other and may not know what goes on in each other's lives on a daily basis, we're still close and still tied together by our childhood memories.  Every Christmas morning she would cut the string off our stockings hanging on the banister so we could sneak a peak at our gifts before Mom and Dad woke up. Now, as an Army Medic she will be cutting bandages to help heal another soldier's wounds.  We used to write notes to each other and pass them under our bedroom doors when we would get in an argument.  Now, it will take several weeks before we receive word from each other that we're both okay and everyone at home is fine.  We used to play in the woods in an area we dubbed "Fern Gully" (we were Secret Garden fans) climbing over rocks and through bushes.  Now, she will have to walk through the hot, sandy terrain of Afghanistan.

War doesn't just affect those in it.  It affects friends and family.  While we may not experience physical effects, there is always an emotional tug on our hearts, because to us, they're not just soldiers - they're sisters, mothers, brothers, fathers, spouses, children - they're everything.