"A true friend unbosoms freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably. " ~William Penn
 The military has a saying, "I've got your back." I've heard it on a lot of movies, in military offices, and between friends. I believe it originates from combat when one person runs into the area of fire, out from behind a protective area, and the other covers them with support. It has been said among friends, in an endearing way, to let each other know that wherever they are going, into whatever obstacle or trouble, they will not be alone.
 On September 11, 2004, during Vic's first deployment, our Family Readiness Group had an event for the spouses of the deployed Soldiers. "GI Jane Day" was an opportunity to put on camouflage uniforms, and spend the day doing military things. The idea was to give the Spouses and Moms an opportunity to blow off some steam and gain understanding into the things their Soldiers do. We boarded buses and were shuttled to a paint ball range. We learned to stand in formation, eat MRE's (meals ready to eat), practice target shooting with simulated weapons, pair up and maneuver through a battlefield, and throw water balloons to simulate grenades. As crazy as it all sounds, it was the perfect thing for our group to do. We were seven months into the deployment and at the phase when the stress of it all was really wearing everyone's morale down. We were fresh off of summer where we tried to maintain normalcy with kids, all the while missing our Soldiers more. We needed to spend September 11th that year doing something empowering instead of mourning a day that impacted all of our lives so greatly.
 Before the deployment, we were encouraged to find a battle buddy or two. These are the friends that commit to checking on you and being your go to person during the deployment. My battle buddy was also my Family
Readiness Group Adviser. With prior time in the Army as well as decades of experience as a Spouse, she was a wealth of knowledge. She also had a fantastic wit about her, having seen so many things over the course of her time in the military. My battle buddy reminded me that I did have what it takes to parent three kids alone. She laughed with me on the good days, and cried with me on the bad days, she called me to remind me to watch our favorite show. She was the one who reminded me that I wasn't alone. At GI Jane day, my battle buddy became my partner. With her prior experience, she handled everything like a pro. My face paint looked the best, and when I tried to put her camo on her face, she had to take the mirror and fix my pitiful job. We took our places as we prepared to advance into enemy territory, wooden weapons in hand. At the instructor's direction we took a few steps then dropped to the ground to low crawl with our weapons in front of us. My partner was so quick. I, on the other hand, couldn't coordinate my legs and arms and did nothing more than make a sorry angel in the dirt with my flailing. We laughed hysterically. When we took our spots for the water grenade area, we had to communicate with hand signals, who was advancing and who was covering the back. She was so smooth and I wound up a heap behind a barricade, laughing at my terrible aim. The day ended with numerous photos, lots of reflection and a renewed spirit to complete the journey ahead as a team.
 One of the pictures that was taken that day is of my battle buddy and me, shoulder to shoulder, bandannas on our heads, with paint on our smiling faces. It is one of my favorite pictures. When I look at it, I'm reminded of the spectrum of experiences that we weathered together during that deployment.
 The other day, I gave my mom a book that I thought she would like to read. When she opened it, a photo Christmas Card fell out of the middle. The picture on the Christmas Card is the one of my battle buddy and me. It is the Christmas Card we sent to our entire Family Readiness Group to celebrate the coming end to the deployment. The caption on the card says the name of the FRG and the following words, "We've got your back". Whether it is the Soldier in a war zone or the Families sacrificing in support of their Soldiers, everyone needs a Battle Buddy. Everyone needs a friend like that.