Commentaries

  • Preventing suicide - starting with myself

    Note: This commentary was originally published Sept. 6, 2018.     There is rarely a day that passes when I do not think of ending my own life.     Some days, my depression is an overwhelming weight to bear and it takes nearly everything I have just to push the thoughts away and get on with my

  • Serving Servicemembers’ children to start the school year

    The start of the 2020 school year is unlike one students, teachers, and parents have ever encountered before. School supplies and school shopping has taken on a completely new meaning, with most first days happening in living rooms through virtually learning.

  • Reconciling good fortune during COVID-19

    It may be a little presumptuous of me to claim I have survivor’s guilt associated with COVID-19 considering it’s an on-going crisis. None of us will know who comes out the other side until we are already there. But, I believe we have been in this long enough to appreciate other people’s lives have

  • Change For The Better

    MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, FL -- I’m truly thankful that I’ve been blessed with a beautiful family, my daughters are my world and my husband is an absolute gem. I can’t imagine what I would do without them.Here’s the thing, I’m from a very small town in Ohio where diversity was just a word in the

  • The best unit

    OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. -- Have you ever heard someone say, "The previous unit I was at was the best," or, "The unit I'm going to next is the best?" When I hear that, I usually think the person doesn't like their current unit. Also, it makes me wonder what makes a unit the best. The best times

  • Blaming Victims - Comforting Ourselves

    Victim blaming is not exclusive to sexual assault or even crime. You may hear of a friend’s home being burglarized and think, they should not have bought a house in that neighborhood, but you may also have heard of an acquaintance passing away in a car accident and rationalized that they probably

  • Invisible Enemy

    JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-CHAPMAN TRAINING ANNEX, Texas -- If someone told me on December 31st of last year what was going to happen in the year 2020, I probably would’ve thought he or she was crazy and needed to talk to someone. I would’ve reached out to his or her leadership and asked them to keep an

  • Walking a mile in each other's shoes

    A lot of people who live and work on Peterson Air Force Base have probably wondered what happens at the 4th Space Control Squadron - the “big fenced in building” out past the commissary. If you know or have talked to any of the members of the squadron, they most likely didn’t tell you much about