My Secret

I didn't create this PostSecret, but I might as well have (I would use a different font). I don't like to generalize to the whole population, but this is certainly true for me. I am still getting used to being a part of the military, to my best friend being in the Army, to the fact that my cares, concerns and life lie where they now do. It is so easy for the big events of the world to be someone else's problem. It is easy to unknowingly ignore horrible things that happen every day, halfway across the world or right in your own backyard. There are some things you simply don't worry about or think about much, until they impact you directly. It is no fault of our own, I think our brains just need to have some limits to what is allowed to get to us or we would go absolutely crazy (or get there much quicker!). If all your involvement with the military ever is is saying a quick "Thank you" on Veteran's Day, there is nothing at all wrong with that. That's who I would be, I'm quite certain. But that's not who I am, since I am in love with Kyle and made the decision that he was what I wanted, and he decided to join the Army. I don't know when I knew it was for forever with him, but none of the difficulties and challenges that the Army likes to throw at us have come remotely close to challenging that, so for a while at least, it's the Army life for me! 

I think that we all have our niches, our interests, our differences and experiences, so that there is someone to care about everything possible in the world, at some point or another. I believe in making things better as I go along, both for myself and those around me, as well as those that I have the ability and knowledge to help. I think that this "secret" applies to many things in life: appreciation for our troops, joy over your newborn baby, sadness when a loved one dies of cancer. All things you can't quite understand until they happen to you. And when they do happen, you're not the same. 

University football is an American staple, and many grow up caring about it, especially in this community. Luckily for most of us, abuse and pain inflicted on a child is not something that we come across; it is one of those things that you think is horrible and disgusting when you hear about it, but you probably rarely hear about it, or it is so distant that there is little to no effect on your life. When something you're surrounded in daily (Penn State), gets tied up negatively with something you know is horrible and have never experienced before (child abuse), there is a conflict, a sadness, a confusion. For some there is irrationality and destruction, and for most there is thoughtfulness and concern. Your gut is to go with what you know- you are devastated because your coach has been fired, and you feel horrible for what was done to those kids (yes, you can feel both and still be a good person). image

My hope is that now that everyone in this community has experienced such scandal right where they live, work, and go to school, that they can now appreciate the devastation of child abuse, regardless of who should have done what, who no longer has a job, and how poorly or proudly people behaved in response. If you didn't have much care or concern for child abuse before, I don't blame you. The military was a thing of movies and morning news for me. But now you know, and now you have had that point of impact where you can't go back to thinking this problem could never be a concern of yours. I hope you let something good come out of it. That is what I plan to do. 

- From the desk of Mrs. M