Reason #2: Experience the World...literally.

Not only are military children and families exposed to global sites and cultures, but they get to experience living with strange smells, customs, sounds, and movements. Pictured at right is St. Andre Cathedral in Chateauroux, France, where we lived for two years. This is not just a cathedral to me forty years later. I remember the engagement with it. My class was taken on an art field trip to this city center where we each found a chosen spot to draw charcoal drawings of what we saw. I also remember my French piano teacher who was the organist at this Catholic church. Behind this cathedral, the flea market flourished every Saturday. I still remember the smells, sights, sounds, and movements. It instilled in me an early appreciation for diversity and a sense of longing to see more of the world. That's a good thing. Military life does that to a child. That's a good thing.

My thoughts for today.

Sheila Witherington

Reason #1: Build Amazing Extended Military Family

Growing up in a military family means living among a community of other military families who bond and create a unique type of environment. Neighbors living in military housing are much more open to getting to know each other and helping each other. U.S. military bases offer families a wide variety of recreation, educational, and spiritual types of activities. Pictured at left is a group of women in military families singing hymns around the piano in our home when we were stationed in Chateauroux, France when I was a child. I knew that any of these women and many others helped look after me and considered me to be a part of their extended family. In the military family community, there is a strong bond that last over lifetimes, even though families move periodically to different areas.

My thoughts for today.

Sheila Witherington