Let's support those who have fought for our freedoms.

It doesn't seem that long ago when I was kissing my husband, tears rolling down my cheeks, with our 14 week old baby daughter in the car crying. It was April 2004, and my best friend was deploying to Afghanistan. Adam told me, "Just go. Please don't stick around for the buses to drive away and make this harder on me than it already is." I remember thinking, "How do I just leave, not knowing if he will ever return, if we will ever see him again?" I wanted to stay with him every last second that I could...just in case. But I did leave. Because I couldn't possibly imagine making anything harder on my husband than this moment already was. I knew it would be hard for me, but I couldn't imagine his heartache as he left his wife and baby daughter behind to fight for our freedoms. I couldn't imagine Adam's fear heading into unknown territory, with unknown language, and nothing but newspaper headlines of violence since September 11th, 2001 had come and gone. He had already been forced to write his will...just in case. He had already been stripped of all our daughter's firsts while he was gone her first year. Thankfully, he did return home safe a year later in April 2005. That October, he was told he had to leave again- this time to Baghdad in Iraq- for another year. We had to say our goodbyes again. And again we were blessed with another safe return. Adam was finally home to celebrate Abby's first birthday with us when she turned 3.

I won't lie. The reunions were tough. We agreed to never "one up" each other because we could never understand what it meant to walk in the other one's shoes. I had become used to having the TV to myself when I wanted it, the towel hung up in the bathroom where I last left it, and everything in its place. Suddenly I felt guilty for what seemed to be petty feelings, such as his intrusion on my space. Adam was frustrated with the world at home when he returned, where all material things seemed minor and senseless compared to the tragic circumstances he had seen on a daily basis. We also now had a daughter together, but had never really parented together. And to top it off, I had an unexplained seizure two weeks before his return from Iraq, a new diagnosis of epilepsy, and we were pregnant with baby #2.

Still our issues seemed minor compared to what others around us endured. Adam returned from war without injuries, and while we did go through financial hardships, we were fortunate to have the support of our families. I don't know what we would have done without them. Not everyone is as fortunate as we were. That's why I'm running the Chicago Marathon 2017 with Team Salute.

This is my chance to give back. We will never forget where we came from, the friendships we made, who had become our families away from home. We will never forget the sacrifices of those who didn't come home, and those who didn't win the fight against PTSD after their return. We will never forget the struggles of transitions from redeployment, and then later transitioning out of the military life. We will never forget it's important to pay it forward.

Please join me in supporting real change. Let's support good in the world and make a difference. Help us provide a safety net for injured veterans and their families by keeping a roof over their heads, gas in the car, and food on the table. Just a small donation will go a long way to helping me meet my goal for SALUTE INC.