A tale of an “Army Brat” and her quest to give back.

First let’s give a shout out to to all our military personnel!! HOLLA!!! BUT –  Not only to the members of the military who are serving, but ALSO to their families who support them! WOOT WOOT!!!

My dad served in the Army for 21 years and in that time he had multiple tours of duty in Korea and Vietnam before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel . We lived in multiple states and even in Germany for a while. I remember like it was yesterday all the times my dad had to go away on different assignments. My dad called it TDY- and yes, I just had to Google it to find out what it stood for – and Wikipedia said ‘TDY or Temporary Duty refers to a US Government employee’s travel assignment at a location other than the employee’s permanent duty station. They are usually of relatively short duration, typically from two days to two months in length.” – Yup that sounds about right – but I RARELY remember his “TDY” trips being ANYTHING LESS than a month long. (Insert my sad face here). It was rough – he missed father daughter dances, birthdays and simple things like playing catch outside. In a word – I HATED  TDY!

I remember missing him SO much – I would help him pack before he left on his trips. I remember him saying ‘can you get me 7 pairs of black socks’ and I’d go get them from the drawer of our military-housing-provided dresser, hand them to him, and he’d put them in the suitcase. I dreaded every pair of socks he’d put in there – knowing that with each pair he packed, it meant he was just that much closer to leaving. (dang it! I’m tearing up right now as I type this). Then when he finally did have to go I’d be there cryin’ my ever-lovin’ eyes out  and my mom was left having to deal with me, my sister, our dog and all the other ‘stuff’ when he was gone – She, in essence, became a temporary single mom. That couldn’t have been easy on her – but I can only share what I remember from my side of the ‘military dependent’ coin.   He doesn’t even know this (I  don’t think) but I would keep a little bottle of his cologne in my bedroom and any time I missed him more than normal – I’d unscrew it and take a little wiff. It didn’t bring him home any sooner – but it helped a little. (And just an FYI he STILL wears the SAME cologne and I am getting the biggest kick that my kids have asked him for a small bottle so they can use it after they ‘shave’!) LOL!

Soooo this brings me to the inspiration for this blog post. I have ALWAYS been super duper proud of my dad for being in the military. He is super duper proud of his service in the military. We ALL should be SUPER DUPER proud of the men, women and families of those in the military! My dad continues to serve his country by volunteering at the USO at LAX (please click on the link on the left to find out more about what the USO is and how you can help).  I wanted to find a way to help ‘give back’ via my photography business. I heard somewhere about a group of professional photographers who volunteer their time and talent to photograph various sessions for families of  military who are going to be deployed or are currently deployed and I wanted to learn more.  I found “Operation: Love ReUnited” or OPLOVE (please click on the highlighted word to the left for more info). I applied and eagerly awaited to find out if I would be accepted. Months passed and I got the email last week congratulating me on being selected to be part of the organization!!! HOLLA!!! I quickly filled out the rest of the application and entered my contact information so people could find me and wondered how long it would be until I got a call. Well guess what?!?!? I received a call TODAY from a lady who’s husband has been deployed for a year in Afghanistan and she wanted to know if I was available to photograph his homecoming!! HELLS YES I AM! Can’t give away any more details but I can’t wait to be there on the day he comes home!!!

Here are a few images from the first military homecoming I did a couple of months back (while I was still waiting to find out if I was accepted in to the program). After I shot this session I thought – ‘yup – I could do this – all day – every day!’ There is NOTHING better than getting your family ReUnited! I know this first hand. Granted –  I thought a month was excruciating, I can’t even imagine what 6 months or a year would feel like. But in the images below, I think you can get an good idea of how GOOD it feels to be HOME!  WELCOME HOME!!!!! and I LOVE YOU DAD!

And cue the water works….

I wasn’t there to photograph this family – but you just KNOW when a Daddy is seeing

his son for the first time. -LOVE-

Brenda nervously/eagerly awaiting Bryan’s arrival

Here he is!!!

I TOTALLY get how happy their daughter is – but doesn’t dad just melt your heart?

ahhhhh.
Thank you Brenda and Bryan for asking me to be a part of this incredibly memorable day!

 I can’t wait to document more of these homecomings!