Yellow Ribbon Program

This past weekend my husband and I, along with about 600 or more other people, attended our first yellow ribbon of our upcoming deployment. For those who do not know what the Yellow Ribbon Program  is, it's a DOD program to help support National Guard and Reserve members and their families with information on benefits and referrals before, during, and after a deployment.


If 9/11 weekend wasn't already hard enough we had to sit and hear about all the military programs to help us as our husband,wives,brothers,sisters, daughters , and sons go away to war. Many for the first time. As hard as it was to face the fact that this is about to happen I can't express how glad I am that my husband and I decided to attend. A lot of people say that the yrp is death by power point and even though it may feel like that if you take the time to actually listen to all the great information they are giving it's really not that bad. The best part of the whole weekend besides my husband and I getting away for the weekend was all the great companies that took time to come tell us about things I know most of the families wouldn't have known about otherwise. They set up booths and we could go by and talk to them personally and pick up pamphlets and booklets along with some nice freebies.

 I was really worried going into it that I wouldn't enjoy it just because it was getting us ready for something I already don't want to think about. I have to admit that the weekend really opened my eyes to a few things. One being that acting like that was just silly. It's so important to be as prepared as possible. The more prepared the better off you'll be to handle the stresses that are bound to come your way. I've also realized that my feelings lately are just getting in my own way. Of course no one wants their loved one to go to war but, letting it consume you will only make it worse. My husband was handed his official orders this weekend while I was standing next to him. It just made me realize that like it or not this is happening. I can let it defeat me or I can get on board. Either way he is leaving. There is absolutely nothing I can do about it and nothing I can do to stop it. I don't have to like it but, I've realized that for the sake of my sanity, my marriage, and my husband it's time to suck it up and get over it. We're not the first couple to have to go through this and we won't be the last!