...and I want to jerk the wheel!!!

My brother came over this morning for toast. Must be nice. Still not working.

My boss' (at the gallery) daughter was on TV the other night. It's such a sad story. She (Abby) signed up for the Army Reserve after high school, thinking that she'd be able to help Americans in natural disasters, etc. when, or if, they happened. She wanted to do something good for her country, but joined the reserves because I don't think she wanted to make this a full time deal.

Well, a 2 years ago she was deployed to Iraq. While there, she was in a mortar attack, had to save someone's arm while being attacked, and had to endure other various horrible excperiences. Now that she's back in the States, she is having a hard time adjusting because of these experiences.

She told her mom that she can't sleep at night because she's scared. For a year, mind you, she had been sleeping with a gun to protect herself. And now, she doesn't feel safe in a town that has 1,000 people and no stop lights. She has suicidal thoughts. And she isn't the same happy, outgoing person she used to be. In her own words, she's "still trying to find that girl."

I can't imagine what people see over there in Iraq. And those who come back are changed. Some a little, some a lot. But no one talks about it. It's as if people (meaning government officials) think they (the soldiers) can come back and transition into a 'normal' life again. But how can they after the horror they have just been through and seen?

Abby's mission is to make people more aware of this issue. She wants to speak out and let others know that they are not alone, and that they need to get help. I think it's a very courageous thing she's doing. After all, the people who send others to war don't have to change their lives - it doesn't effect them. Everyone else gets to stay in their comfortable little 'worlds' and can tune out what is going on by simply switching off the TV. However, it effects the people who actually go to war. And they should be held in a little higher regard than they currently are.

In one clip of her story on the newscast, she was talking about having a conversation with a WWII vet and a Vietnam vet. One said that he thought about his experiences every day. Abby laughed and the other guy said, "It's not funny. He's right. You think about it every day." To which she replied, "I'm not laughing because I think it's funny. I'm laughing because I was hoping you'd tell me it would get better."