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, November 30, 2010

Making Spirits Bright

Since 2005, the national Christmas Tree Association has been providing free trees for military families as part of its Christmas Spirit Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.  ItsTrees for Troops program works with FedEx and with local growers and tree lot operators to get live Christmas trees into the homes of military children living overseas.  Live trees are an expense many stateside families can’t afford, and they are served as well by this program.
Between 2005 and 2009, 66,733 trees were donated by 800 growers to 54 military bases and 44 weekend lots in 29 states. Last year alone, 16,651 trees were donated. 
If this is a program you’d like to support, you can do so by purchasing and donating trees or by making a donation to help cover other costs of the program.
Posted by About AART at 6:52 AM

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