small girl holds american flag at parade

Guest Blog: Family Serves Too


Jenni
Jenni

Blogger Biography: First of all, I’m a simple human that loves God with all her heart. Born and raised in the beautiful island of Puerto Rico and so proud of my Spanish, Taino and African heritage. Happily married with two beautiful children. I’m an elementary school teacher and a very proud military wife!

I finally got my puzzle back together for the fifth time in 12 years, and it is time for me to say goodbye again. It’s time to say goodbye one more time because I want my kids, my family and the future generations to be able to live in peace and walk freely in this great land called the United States of America. I’m part of a support system that makes that happen, and as a military wife, I have to do my part. And I’m glad I do!

My husband freely and selflessly (not sure why yet) changed his successful career path 15 years ago and twisted his life (and my life, my career and a comfy life together close to our families) to embrace an adventure he absolutely loves with his whole heart, that makes his eyes shine everyday—serving the United States Armed Forces. But as his family, we serve too.

Many times I have been tempted to color his uniform hot pink with colorful stripes and sparkling patterns with a butterfly on top, but because I believe in something bigger than myself, I don’t! I believe in freedom and equality. I’m a proud Puerto Rican, which is a true blessing since we have a birthright citizenship, but I am also a super proud American who believes that we live in the most amazing nation in the world. We must contribute to keep it that way, so I have to do my part. Even though the uncertainty of life for our family is in our faces all the time, I juggle with God’s help to make it an adventure, especially for my resilient and brave kids Laura Carolina and Diego Esteban. Together as a family, we make the best of it. It’s not always fun, but we do love it, and we wouldn’t change a thing!

We have met extraordinary people on this path; we have friends all over the world. Even with all the challenges that military wives face on a daily basis (more than you all could ever, ever, ever imagine) I, as an individual, a military wife and an educator with a college degree, learned the English language, stopped my Masters of Arts education, moved away from my beautiful family and from all I loved to follow my husband and his passion to contribute to the peace and freedom we all enjoy. Everywhere I go, I always try my very best and adapt my career in order to fit in, work and contribute to my community—even when I know I’m not going to have deep roots, even when I know it’s not going to be for a long time. I want to thank all the angels we have crossed paths with from the bottom of my heart because our family can’t do this calling without the support of the amazing and proud fellow Americans we find everywhere who do anonymous things for us—the co-workers, neighbors and friends we have found on our way. We are beyond blessed and because life is a spiral, those blessings will come back right at you! So thank you for noticing us and caring enough to show us we aren’t alone in this.

We have enough strength to be willing to move, fit in and contribute to our next place all over again, and again and again. Even though I’m beyond happy with our new PCS location (after three location changes in the last four months), I’m glad to show my kids the world in a way some people only dream about and I’m pretty sure this time it will be the adventure of our lives in New York City. But at the same time, it was sad and extremely hard to leave a lot of wonderful people we met at our previous PCS location in Texas. We are ready for our next adventure. It is absolutely exciting—the labor of a fresh start and watching my children’s confidence blossom. We have been training hard, believe me! We are ready and resilient. Feel safe and free in the land of the brave, the United States of America—my family and I got this for you!

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