The existence of military working dogs was brought to the forefront of American consciousness in 2011, when a dog named Cairo was reported to have assisted in the mission to assassinate Osama Bin Laden. A recent book, THE DOGS OF WAR, by Lisa Rogak, chonicles the birth, lives and retirement of these dogs, and gives a wonderfully thorough overview of which dogs are chosen, what kinds of lives they lead, and what happens to them when they are too old for service. I found this book fascinating,…

This week my husband and I came across an amazing movie that I just have to share with you. HONOR FLIGHT is a documentary that follows the leaders of a Midwest community mission that brings WWII veterans to view the WWII Memorial in Washington DC. Most of the veterans in that area had never had the opportunity to fly across the country to view the memorial. The movie explains how, after the War was over, life went on as it had before; veterans rarely, if ever, talked about the horrors they…

A few months ago I joined a new church. It's a far cry from the somewhat cold Catholic church I grew up in--the church doesn't have its own building, and services are held in another church. There are a couple of young pastors, and a few bands alternate playing the music every Sunday. Mostly, from what I learned, it was a grassroots movement that grew slowly over the years.

What I like about this place is the community. It is mostly made up of people my age, in their twenties and…

I am constantly amazed by the generosity I see in my military community. I have a hard time believing that the spirit of cooperation and kindness that I see between military spouses can be replicated so strongly in a civilian community (with the exception of church communities, which often share a similar spirit).

Over the past few weeks, a friend of mine discovered that a small medical procedure she was scheduled to have had developed into a full-blown surgery, requiring anesthesia.…