When my father, Odysseus, and his men sailed off to the Trojan War, they were confident their gods favored a quick victory. Instead, the siege of Troy lasted ten years. After Troy fell, the survivors made their way home to Sparta, Mycenae, Pylos, and elsewhere in the ancient Peloponnese. Neither my father nor any of his troops arrived home with the rest. We waited for years as the news grew worse. Odysseus was dead, we were told,or imprisoned, or, worst yet, he had married another woman and abandoned my mother Penelope, my brother Telemachus, and me.


If he is alive somewhere, his thoughts may wander to Penelope and Telemachus, but he won’t be thinking of me. I am the daughter he doesn’t know exists. Odysseus went off to the Trojan War when his son, Telemachus, was barely old enough to walk. His wife, Penelope, was a teenage bride, and is now a young wife, mother, and queen who has to try to rule Ithaca without him.


I was born seven months after he left. I am a hero’s daughter and a princess of his realm, but I have lived my entire life without a father. I’m nineteen now, and still waiting.


All over the world, and throughout history children grow up as I have. This website will focus on the children of those men and women who have gone off to fight America's wars, and provide information and resources for all who care about military families and want to help.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Military Kids Unite


Here’s one from San Diego, my home.  Correia Middle School and the Navy School Liaison Officer have set up a new after-school club called Military Kids Unite, to help students in military families cope with deployments, relocations and other stresses of being  in a military family.   Their first meeting, which included “pizza, drinks, and fun,” was held last week. 
Connor Carr is the president of the new club. He started MKU at another local middle school the previous year.  “This year, with the help of Mrs. Pieper [a Correia teacher] and Mrs. Williamson, our Navy School Liaison Officer, we are bringing this club to Correia for the first time,” Connor says. 
Yesterday I wrote about Tamarah Frank, a ninth grader with a desire to use her experiences as a military child to serve others.  Connor Carr is another good example of children stepping up to help themselves and point the way to how the needs of military families can be met.
     
Posted by About AART at 9:17 AM

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