Category Archives: coping

How Yellow Ribbon events help the family to prepare for all stages of deployment?

I had the opportunity to present my Key Note speech at a Yellow Ribbon event on April 9 for the 96th MPBN combined with the 321st MP DET CI Army Reserve families.

Yellow Ribbon events are broken down in a numbered series from 1- 7. Series 1-Starting Planning Phase of deployment through Series 7 – 90 days after returning from active duty.

This Yellow Ribbon event was addressing Series 3 and 4, present deployment with educating on how to help your solider on re reintegration. This one day event started at 8:00 am through 5:00pm . The Family Readiness coordinates these events for adults and the children. Each military family was given a prepared scheduled agenda, outlining sessions to attend that would help them with their current and future issues they were about to experience. I only wished I would have had this when I was caring for my granddaughters.

The Yellow Ribbon event included other community partners like ourselves, organizations providing assistance to the military families. These partners provided table top displays along with their information. For our table top display we brought a display board, our books -Deployed Grandparents being Parents and Deployed Kids and business cards . The display board, our daughter created when she returned from her deployment in Afghanistan in 2008. She created this for our family’s Welcome home party. Who would of thought at that time I would be using it for a Yellow Ribbon event for deployed families.

The picture you see is Major Johnson, surprisingly we learned he was deployed and stationed in Baghram the same time our daughter was there. He worked in the back of the building our daughter was working in. Small world! My husband and I enjoyed hearing what his deployment experiences were like.

The military families enjoyed seeing our display board and sharing their stories of their military loved one’s current deployment with my husband Alan and I. Alan and I shared our support and tried to give suggestions on how hope to cope with their present situation. Military mom’s always shed a tear or two with us when they explain how they are dealing with deployment. I reassured these moms, it’s OK to cry, your entitled we are the moms,we are all in this together, and we understand what you are going through.

Yellow Ribbon events are a way for everyone in the family to better understand what are the stages of deployment , how to handle those stages and most importantly- this event is for everyone in the family.

I worked with Jhoselyn Ramirez -CFLE Family Readiness Support Assistant. She provided me with complete instructions on my prior arrival, the day of the event and what I needed to provide. I found this event was so well organized, educational, and a big stress reliever for the families. Families shared with me how happy they were to learn how to handle their situation and now knowing where to get support.

I encourage if you are invited to attend your families Yellow Ribbon event you go!

President Obama has said” Military families are the force behind our Force.” And we are those families.

My next blog I will share with you a woman I met, a married grandmother. Her husband deployed last year, then just recently her single parent daughter deployed leaving her daughter’s children with her. She was a Deployed Wife and a Deployed Grandma at the same time!

How Military Children’s Charity (MCC) organization is supporting deployed children

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This nonprofit organization www.militraychildrenscharity.org is founded by a young teenager, Isaiah Navarro seeing the need to help deployed military children. He felt deployed children have special needs when a parents is deployed. Being a military child himself, he said he know the challenges and feelings of isolation,abandoned and having a parent absent of all your school activates when his father deploys. Concentrating in school is difficult for deployed children because they are concerned of their parent’s safety.

Isaiah began by collecting funds to purchase gifts for the deployed children. MCC first started by distributing Christmas gifts in Southern California with assistance by the Family Readiness Officers of the Marines. MCC is planning on expanding into a National presence with all military branches providing gifts all year round for deployed children.

My granddaughters were visiting during Spring break a few weeks ago and had an opportunity to meet Isaiah and his mother Cherie. Isaiah and his mother presented my granddaughters gifts and thanked them for all so serving our Country, knowing what they sacrificed during their mother’s deployment. My granddaughters were so excited to accept their gifts. They were giggling and laughing. What a wonderful experience for military children.

Isaiah’s mother Cherie ,has provided Isaiah great support and have helped build Isaiah a strong self esteem. I am proud to know such a fine young man and a wonderful organization. I look forward in the future to helping him support his dream. You can too at: www.militarychildrenscharity.org

How do children cope with Deployment ?

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I always wondered what my granddaughters thought of living with us during our daughter’s deployment. Last fall when I was visiting my granddaughters I asked them if they ever thought of sharing their experiences about deployment with other children. They both got very excited thinking about possibly writing their story and sharing with other children. They thought it would be “COOL” to write a book like I did. They both shared with me they felt they wanted to help other military kids not to be frightened and what to expect when a parent deploys. I asked them would they like me to help them write their story? And they agreed it would be fun.

I suggested that I interview them individually with out the other knowing what their answers would be. Ivie and Bailey both thought this would be fun. I began interviewing each one without the other one hearing how they answered. I told them to pretend that I was a reporter not their grandmother and they could be totally honest with their answers. They enjoyed me asking the questions.

Once we completed their interview we started selecting pictures to place in their book. It was fun looking back and seeing how they have grown since they lived with me. My granddaughters chose to dedicate their book to a special friend who supported them during their stay. Ivie felt she wanted to add helpful tips to kids and what she thought would help them better understand what deployment was like for her.

When interviewing my granddaughters I was surprised how honest they were and so willing to share their true feelings.

We all enjoyed working together and creating their book . It brought back many memories for all of us,sharing the good and bad times of deployment and our time together.

We have completed the book, Deployed Kids – How we survived our mom’s deployment to Afghanistan. Ivie and Bailey hope to share their book with other military children facing their parents deployment. Very soon I will have a link on this site on how to purchase the book.

It’s amazing to me how children can open up and share their experiences with out any hesitation. Over all, my granddaughters thought their time with us was fun and exciting, even though they missed their mother greatly.

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