Delaney Explores

I'll never forget the first time I met a hero of mine. It was Gabby Douglas, a USA Olympic Gymnast, also a military kid like me. It was September 2012, and I was a Sophomore in high school. I looked up to her for many reasons and the day I met her, I could do nothing but cry; I was so intimidated. I couldn't even get out one question as she sat their signing my jacket. Between sobs I got out a, "Gabby... *sob* my idol *sob* I'm a military kid too *sob*." She looked at me like I was INSANE and might show up at her hotel later stalking her. Slightly disheartening, but I can't really blame her. Since that extremely embarrassing moment in 2012, I vowed that the next time I met an idol, I wouldn't cry. How the heck was I going to do that without meeting more idols consistently (which I definitely cannot afford)? I realized that the reason I was so distraught meeting her is because I looked at her like a God, thinking she was so much better th

Yesterday I was called a "dependa" by some person I went to high school with and told I "fit the urban dictionary definition perfectly." All because I simply shared my and my family's experience growing up as a military family. There has never NOT been a point in my life or my siblings when my dad wasn't in the Army... He is still in.  People don't really stop to think of the impact war and deployments have on the people at home. No, it's not nearly as traumatic as what my father has witnessed and I am NOT comparing what I've gone through to what my father and other soldiers have. However, it has had detrimental impacts on everyone's families mental health, and family dynamics.  These may seem petty to you if you are a first generation military member with no family of your own, but those in the military with families who have deployed or been stationed far places for long amounts of time would all say that there are multiple sacrifi