Military life has it's ups and downs...it can make you smile but also frown...

It can make you happy but also sad...it can be good but also bad...

There is the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines...you can even join when you are in you teens...

There are places to go and people to meet...boot camp to pass and school to complete...

It is a good experience for the most part...all you need is to have the heart...

I grew up overshadowed by lush fields
Couldn't catch the eye of no city boy

Here I am devoted to myself
How I love the way I look in blue jeans
Can't believe I let the smog cloud my eye

Where the lush fields stand
And the flowing creeks surround
I'll ride my battered bycicle with you by my side

There's a whisper in the Nebraska breeze
Reminding me of home
That whisper builds
That whisper cries
Home in the morning skies

You appear on the horizon
Brushing that curly hair from your eyes

The city folk with their fancy gadgets
Cement fields like grey tombs
Don't have nothin' on our way of life
Just listen to the birds

Don't live your life like a theif
Today might feel a time to be like a theif
But that ain't no way to lead a life

You know, there's a lot I drive by in my battered bycicle
Folk who is messing up
Always stay strong, my friend
Always stay strong

In Nebraska, when I was a child
I met a strong man
"How can you be so strong?" asked I
Here was his wise reply

Don't live your life like a theif
Today might feel a time to be like a theif
But that ain't no way to lead a life

Met an old lady who lived like a theif
"What happened to her?" asked I
Here was his wise reprise

Don't live your life like a theif
Today might feel a time to be like a theif
But that ain't no way to lead a life

That lady's gone now
It's sad  but true
Always stay strong, my friend
Always stay strong

I am only in your memories...
time is precious and very short... as life slips away...your pictures fade through the years...the anguish eats away at me...say good night and remember that I will still be here...waiting for you...

Once upon a midnight thundery...
The cold snap brought such sorrow...
The violent storm smiled...
Remembering many heavy, and frigid waters...
Its eyes have all the deluging...
While I pondered, thunderous and mild...
What could there be more purely wild?
The flaw brought such sorrow
It threw its ghost against the squalls...
To warn me about the drear devastation and devouring...
All my soul within me powering...
I had dreamed of twisters flouring...
The lightning lapse leeching
And the outbreaks never laughing...

When love comes you see its face...

Through the eyes you want to race...

We come together to love each other...

Like your kids or your mother...

Don't lose faith in what you have...

Things will happen good or bad...

For love we fight to stay together...

And never leave now and forever....

P is for PRAYING for a safe return home, PUTTING on a brave face everyday, and PROTECTING yourself at all costs...

T is for TRUSTING that someone will be there to help you, TALKING to someone about your feelings, and TELLING your story to try to help others...

S is for SAYING that you need help, SEEING your life change right in front of your eyes, and SLOWLY coming to grips with seing your friends die all around you...

D is for DOING what you have to do everyday, DREAMING that oneday your fears will go away, and DYING to fix yourself but knowing that you can't...

THAT IS PTSD!!!

By Lisa J Little