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Around the world and back

By Terri Barnes
Published: October 25, 2011

My son celebrated his 21st birthday in Texas a few days ago. On that mid-October evening, my husband and I sat on our back patio several states away, recalling our own 21st birthdays, wondering how the first of our three babies could have reached that milestone already. We examined the military life that has led us down so many diverse, yet convergent paths.

My husband is a North Carolinian, born and raised. He grew up swimming, surfing and loving life on the beach. He joined the Air Force to pay for college and see the world. The Air Force sent him to the Wild West. Until then, he hadn’t imagined he would spend his 21st birthday in Texas, but he did. Technical training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls taught him the intricacies of jet engines and real life.

Helping heroes stand up

By Terri Barnes
Published: October 18, 2011

It’s nearly two o’clock, and a taxi is waiting to take Lee Woodruff across Washington D.C. to catch a train home. She’s just finished speaking about the needs of caregivers at a rehabilitation conference. Her experience as a caregiver began when her husband, ABC News anchor Bob Woodruff was injured by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2006.

Lee says goodbye to the conference hosts, ready to see her family, especially since her two oldest children are headed home from college for a holiday weekend. Lee doesn’t take time away from her family lightly, but she and her husband feel a responsibility to injured veterans and their families.

ROE for commissary savings

By Terri Barnes
Published: October 12, 2011

As military families, no matter we go around the world, the food we prepare for the holidays brings us home. The season of holiday meals and baking is approaching, which means more shopping and potentially more strain on our grocery budgets.

With so many demands on finances this time of year, couponing can be helpful. Shoppers need to know that couponing is a little different at the commissary.

The real thing

By Terri Barnes
Published: October 3, 2011

She’s not a real military spouse, but she plays one on TV. Kim Delaney, arguably the biggest star of Lifetime’s “Army Wives,” was asked to speak at a gala event honoring former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates a week or two ago. Unable to read or remember her prepared remarks about military life, the confused actress was gently escorted from the stage, looking like a lost child.

She may have been under the influence of an unknown substance or simply sabotaged by a faulty teleprompter, but she did not project the elegant confidence of AW’s Claudia Joy Holden.

 
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About the Author

Terri Barnes is a military wife and mother of three living in Virginia. Her column for military spouses, "Spouse Calls," appears here and in Stars and Stripes print editions each week. Leave comments on the blog or write to her at spousecalls@stripes.com.


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