A story our Veterans don't often share
I joined the National Guard
At the age of near seventeen
Under age Mom signed the waiver
She did it so I would be closer to home
I was seventeen when my youngest sister
was born nineteen when I joined the Air Force
Thousands of miles from home I served overseas
When I returned my Sister hardly knew me
Then off to college and marriage
And then her marriage I was a stranger
She had no way of knowing all the hours
Far away from home I thought of my younger sister
Sent home special gifts, support $75 a month from meager wages
She knew none of this and when I returned home
I was but a stranger, Mom died, half sister
Mom was our connection and our shared sister
who was far closer and we drifted apart
It wasn't I didn't admired my step dad
But I was nearly a teenager then on my own
A month ago my Step dad died 100 years old
My younger sister his caretaker all these years
An old life insurance policy in my name
Taken out the day I joined the Air Force
It came to sis and she notified me by e-mail
Last night i called her--had to find in white pages the number
We talked for over an hour--no one talks about
The sacrifices human our veterans do for us
Like finding out my Grandfather who raised me
They kept it from me for four months, least
I ask for emergency leave home my letters edited
I know how different my relationship with my sister
would have been if I had been at home not serving
Mine is just a small story of sacrifice but should be told
Take care of our Veterans as they take care of us
Oh, and Sis, we will talk again more often I hope