"When the Japanese mend broken objects, they aggrandize the damage by filling the cracks with gold.  They believe that when somethings suffered damage and has a history it becomes more beautiful."  ~Barbara Bloom

My Mom's garden has a beautiful lemon tree that has been baring fruit for several years. This year, we had fresh lemons for everything from tea to salads to baking. The lemons have grown so large that they make grocery store lemons look like weaklings. I have a bag of frozen lemon juice cubes that were also made by my mom's lemons. Yesterday I used those cubes to make a tall pitcher of lemonade. Lemonade is the perfect answer to the first hot days of Florida's summertime.
As a military spouse, I've often joked that I'm a professional lemonade maker. I've even envisioned that being the title of my resume one day. The military has offered me a life of travel and excitement. At each turn I have had breathtaking moments of adventure and learned new things. Many places I have found myself staring at adversity that needed to be overcome.
At our first duty station in Alabama, the lead content on the paint of our military quarters was 400 times higher than that which was deemed safe for living conditions. We learned how to scrape and repaint the sides of our home.
At our second duty station in North Carolina, we had a stint of six months that was wrought with tragedy for our military community. I learned the importance of communication with our military families and the dynamics of chaos when tragedy hits so suddenly. We also realized that life is short and began our family earlier than we had originally designed.
At our return to school in Alabama we learned that duty assignments are at the will of the military and that planning your future out in regards to places you want to go is virtually futile. We learned to base our plans on broad goals and to roll with the punches.
When we moved to Korea we found ourselves living in a very small apartment. We learned that buying overstuffed furniture is never a good idea for a military family and that a small place to live means you spend time getting to remember the things that are really important. We became a close knit family.
When we moved to Virginia the events of September 11th shook every thing that we had begun to build and reminded us that duty calls and plans get broken. All subsequent moves became long studies in adversity. As a wife I had wanted to have the perfect home and life and family. As a military wife I found myself with a deployed husband and adversity as a long standing friend in our lives and the lives of those around us. I found myself making lemonade.
 As I look back on those times that felt so challenging, I do see the cracks of my life filled in with gold. Every step of the way, our family has made it through some amazing times and some tough times. The memories of how we have overcome obstacles and made the best of bad situations are just as sweet as the easy times. All of the memories combine together to make the recipe of who we are today. Just like adding a little lemon, and a lot of sugar, some water and some ice.