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.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Our Military Kids

I got an e-mail yesterday from Greg O’Brien, PR/Marketing Director of Our Military Kids, informing me about this wonderful organization, which, among other projects, provides grants of up to $500  to pay for children who have a parent currently deployed with the National Guard or Reserves to participate in extracurricular activities such as sports, fine arts, camps, and tutoring. Unlike active duty components, the Guard and Reserves are dispersed throughout the country and their children often live very far from bases where they would have access to free or reduced cost programs.  

Our Military Kids, founded in 2004, has given out more than 22,000 grants, totaling over $8.5 million.  Thanks to the generosity of foundations, corporations, and hundreds of individuals, Our Military Kids has been able to fund a grant request for every eligible child.
“Our Military Kids is a program that reassures the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves that someone at home is remembering the sacrifice their family is making while they serve overseas,” said Nadia Short, a former Army Chief Warrant Officer and now a General Dynamics Vice President and member of the Our Military Kids’ Advisory Board. “Not only does participation in activities boost morale and allow children to continue with their development, but it also builds self confidence and gives them something to talk about with their parents when they call home.” 
Additionally, Our Military Kids offer the same grant program to children with a parent who was severely injured while serving. Such activities help nurture and sustain the children during a parent’s lengthy recovery and/or rehabilitation.
A recent survey of more than 600 National Guard families shows how important the stability, routine and fun of such activities is to children while a parent is deployed, and the benefits it can bring to the entire family.  You can read more about the survey here, and read the press release here. 
Service members are making ongoing sacrifices for our country and Our Military Kids is dedicated to minimizing the cost their children pay for their service. “You cannot believe the difference this makes for my family,” one mother says. There is no way we could have afforded karate and gymnastics for all six of our children without the grants, particularly with their father still recovering in the hospital.”
Posted by About AART at 7:35 AM

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