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.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Picturing the Children

Portraits of LoveThis is a rather sweet effort to serve military families this holiday season. The PhotoImaging Manufacturers and Distributors Association (PMDA) is working with the Soldiers' Angels volunteer organization to create the PMDA Soldiers' Angels Portraits of Love Project. The goal of the Project is to provide 10,000 U.S. soldiers around the world with new portraits of their families and loved ones this holiday season.
PMDA is currently setting up free photo shoots at JC Penney’s Portrait Studios, at locations on military bases, and in photographer’s studios across the country. They are looking both for military families and photographers who would like to participate.  For more information click here.

Posted by About AART at 9:30 AM

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