I love to devour thrift shops and antique stores in the hopes of finding fabulous old papers to incorporate in my work.  I was drawn to some old sheet music I discovered, titled “Just A Baby’s Prayer At Twilight”.   Written during the World War II era, the song describes a young daughter’s evening prayer while her soldier daddy is away at war.  The words display her innocence and her awareness of the dangers of war, in addition to her mother’s emotion in overhearing her prayers.   I immediately knew this sheet music had great potential to anchor a collage about one of the major challenges of the military family – separation in time of war.  As a military spouse, the traditional sense of war and battlefields is still constant and real and ever-changing.

This piece has many facets.  I’ll just speak of the main ideas and then let you explore more closely.  The soldier daddy is on the left, confident and fighting for his country and cause.  His loyal wife faces him, holding her head high and beautifully keeping the home front in order.  The world separates the two, but they still gravitate towards each other.  A young daughter is in the middle, facing her father with prayer and hope for his safe return. Advertisements from the same era, ironic and full of propaganda for war, cheer for victory and peace.  This family seems to have it all together.  But honestly, it’s hard when your spouse is far away defending freedom.  And it hurts to see children in pain while missing a parent for months.  And some nights, getting a nice dinner on the table just doesn’t happen (along with many other things).

So what holds the military family together when they are separated by war?  Devotion. Devotion to our country.  Devotion to the mission.  Devotion to faith.  Devotion to each other.

It’s not easy and it’s not pretty.  Devotion is the key.

de·vo·tion \di ‘vō shən\ n 2b. the fact or state of being ardently dedicated and loyal (as to an idea or person)