“That is professional development.”
We laughed.
A year after the gala, the Liberty Armed Forces Foundation invited me back.
Not as guest of honor.
As a panelist.
The topic was service, transition, and family communication.
When the moderator asked what military families often misunderstood about one another, I looked toward the audience.
Dad was sitting beside Mrs. Alvarez.
They had become unlikely friends.
He mailed her tomatoes from Mom’s garden every summer.
She repeatedly told him he planted them too close together.
Mom would have enjoyed that immensely.
I answered the moderator carefully.
“Sometimes we assume silence means there is nothing to say.”
The room grew quiet.
“Military members may have things they cannot discuss.
Families may not know what questions are appropriate.
Over time, everyone fills the gaps with assumptions.”
The moderator asked, “What fixes that?”
I thought about Mom’s letter.
“Not one conversation.”
Dad looked at me.
