"If you're alone, I'll be your shadow.  If you want to cry, I'll be your shoulder.  If you want a hug, I'll be your pillow.  If you need to be happy, I'll be your smile.  But anytime you need a friend, I'll just be me."  ~Author Unknown
 A baby was born yesterday. His dad is serving in Iraq and he wasn't able to be at his son's birth. Thanks to technology, he was able to hear via phone his son's first cry. Mom wasn't alone in all of this. She was surrounded by her friends. Two hand holders and a picture taker, part of a group of friends that I know well.
 I know these incredible ladies because they were there for me when Vic deployed the second time. He left with a unit from another community, and that left me in a community full of couples and families that were not in the same situation as me. My friends were there for me. When I found out Vic would deploy again, they were there when I cried. When I went through all the emotions that deployment brings, they were there. I always had someone checking in to see how I was doing, even when I didn't want to know myself.
  When Vic returned, it was our time to move because we had stayed longer than our original tour. The deployment pushed our date of return an entire year. Our move from Germany almost exactly coincided with the day that the community deployed. I felt horrible guilt that we were leaving when I needed to be there for my friends who had so wonderfully cared for me. They assured me that they had each other and that everything would be okay.
 Okay it is. They plan weekly get togethers. They watch their favorite shows together. They have a special name for themselves. When one of these ladies (one of the hand holders at the recent birth) was in town she wore a t-shirt with their name on it. Just the thought of their connectedness, the way they have come together to support each other during this deployment, makes me cry. Tears of sorry that it has to be this way. Tears of remembrance of the days of deployment.
These ladies are making lemonade. They have taken the negatives related to deployment and turned them into something really wonderful. They remind me, through their stories, how incredible military wives can be. For their Soldiers in Iraq, knowing that they are together and okay matters tremendously. For me across the ocean, knowing that they are together and taking care of each other the way they cared for me makes me proud. Proud to be a part of the sisterhood, proud to know women like themselves.
 To the hand holders, the picture taker, the new mom and the friend, you are incredible! You are all in my prayers, my thoughts and my days. You are an amazing circle of friends!