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.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Snowballing


American Airlines offered something very nice to children who have lost a parent while on active duty since September 11, 2001. The airline flew 1300 families to Dallas for an all-expenses-paid weekend getaway two weeks ago. They went to Six Flags and attended special concerts and other activities
Inaugurated in 2006, The Snowball Express is designed to give these children and their surviving parent  a few days of fun and a change to meet others like themselves. Here’s a video of the wonderful ceremonies held at the Tulsa airport to send six families off.
"I really think it's nice of them, whoever is doing this," said ten-year-old Koby Mackey, from Tulsa, whose father died in 2008. "It really means a lot to me knowing that somebody cares," his thirteen-year-old brother Ryan adds.
"I think it's real great that people have volunteered their time for us," JR Graham said.  His father was killed by a suicide bomber.
The surviving parents also say that spending time with other families helps them  "It's nice to have somebody to bounce some ideas off of or, 'My kid's going through this. Have you dealt with it yet?' one of the mothers said.
In the end, however much events like this help, "it doesn't change the fact that he's gone," JR Graham said.  
Posted by About AART at 6:45 AM

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