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I am not one of those clean freaks! You know the type, you could eat off their floor; but I do like a clean house and live by the motto, “A place for every thing and every thing in its place”.

While visiting Austin last weekend with my husband, we stumbled upon the Austin Museum of Art. When we wanted to pay for our admission, the host there saw my husband’s U.S. Army hat, and asked if he was active military. The host offered us free admission as part of the Blue Star Museums Program.

Blue Star Families members on Facebook told us all the BEST reasons to visit a Blue Star Museum over the long weekend* and I let them know about a few fun things in their area:

I’ve always lived in a community that was profoundly connected with its military base. But for the past two years I have lived in the suburbs of Washington DC. We are just 10 minutes from The Pentagon and the Home of the Commandant of the United States Marine Corps – literally the nucleus of the Corps and yet, I’ve never felt so disconnected from the military. I’ve never felt so alone.

Last weekend, we spent a wonderful day exploring Colonial Williamsburg. The tickets for this attraction are NOT cheap, but thanks to the NEA and Blue Star Families, we got in FREE! It was very simple, we told the very nice lady that we were there to get the Blue Star Families tickets, showed our ID cards, she asked a couple of questions and voila, two tickets, for the entire weekend.

I’m a twelve year old girl. My Dad is in the Marine Corps. Mom says the first time my dad deployed, when I was three, I came up with lots of ideas to catch Saddam Hussein so that my daddy could come home sooner – like I would sneak up on him, scream really loud so that he would fall down, then the Marines could capture him. The second time my dad deployed, my brother was three, and he’d wake up at night and go walking around the house calling for Daddy. He never really understood that he couldn’t find him.

For months now, I’ve been bopping quite merrily through life. My White Knight has (miraculously) been home for over a year. We (theoretically) won’t have to PCS for at least another year. My job is (fairly) secure. Since we live off base, it’s (almost) a normal, civilian life.

I should have known better.

I didn’t invite the military to my wedding, but it came anyway. The decision to get married before Iraq had been a sudden one. I had less than two months to pull together my “dream” wedding.

I’ve been writing letters to my husband, and I thought it only fair to write a letter to you as well. After all, you are currently the most omnipotent presence in my life. I can’t ignore you.

Check out this wonderful video from a visit to the Dallas Museum of Art for the Blue Star Museums program.