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Surviving Spouses | Surviving Spouses of Military MembersEditor: CarolynSend your survivor questions/comments to Carolyn at:
widows-widowers@4militaryfamilies.com
Passport Fees Eliminated for Some Survivors New legislation broadens existing law to waive passport fees for family members of U.S. service members killed in action, and buried or memorialized overseas. Previously, passport fees were waived for widows, parents, children, and siblings of deceased members of the armed forces going abroad to visit the grave of the loved one. Now attendance at a funeral or memorial service has been added, and grandparents have been added to those relatives covered by the law. For more information, see: http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=253121.
January 30, 2007
Happy New Year. . . Well, here’s another chance to refocus or to make new
years resolutions, to finish the things we started last year, to go on a diet,
or just put the past behind us.
I had the flu over the holidays this year and it didn’t bother me at all,
well - maybe a little, to just stay in bed and read or sleep or eat (I knew I
wasn’t on my death bed when I could eat!!). I had made plans to go out of town
but that all fell through with when I got sick and I wondered how much of this
I willed upon myself because it’s so hard to carry out all of these
traditional obligations through the holiday season. . . My puppy, Criket Sue,
was right here with me. He’s just big enough to curl up here on my lap. . .
Actually, I think he is watching television, America’s Funniest Home Videos. .
. And I thought he just wanted to be with me.
After I got up and back to work, I realized this isn’t what I really want
to do so I took a couple more days off and went to Branson, Missouri for a
little fun. . . It was wonderfully relaxing. . .
This year was a little easier but then, of course, it’s been sixteen years
in January since I lost my loved one. I have a friend who had a birthday that
same day so we went out to eat, a car ride, shopping, and had a very nice day.
Then I hear that a young neighbor lost her 46 year old husband, suddenly from
a heart attack, on that same day.
I now know how to comfort her and to be there for her, not necessarily to
say anything, but just to be there and listen and relieve her of some
responsibility or help her write thank you notes, take her out to eat, for a
car ride, let her talk, be a good listener. . .
On these cold winter nights, I’m crocheting lap robes for the veterans home
and praying for the families of those we are still losing, for the soldiers,
our country. Feeling much stronger now, knowing I have a purpose in helping
others who will travel this same road, thankful I’m able to enjoy life and
make choices and focus on those things which are of good report, true, honest.
. . Life is good. . . Make every day count. . .
~ Carolyn
| LinksAir Force Enlisted Village Air Force Villages Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. Operation Stephen's Touch Society of Military Widows Survivor Assistance The Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Inc. (TAPS ) |
