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PORTLAND — Easterseals Maine is asking people to remember the more than 170,000 U.S. service members who will spend the holidays away from the ones they love this year.
“I talk to people about my experiences overseas people often focus on the holidays; how hard it must have been to miss a Christmas or two (or more),” said Joe Reagan, senior development director of Easter Seals Maine.
“The truth is, as a veteran some of my favorite holiday memories occurred while I was away. Thanksgiving 2006, I was in a small firebase in a remote part of Afghanistan and weather delayed the delivery of our ‘hot’ meal and so the Afghan governor invited us into his home and prepared a hot meal for us…Christmas of the same year we gathered for an omni-denominational [service] in our plywood chapel, we sang about peace while carrying the instruments of war.
“We rang in the lunar new year by sharing a meal with our Afghan army partners complete with traditional music and dancing.”
He said that all who serve have two families, those at home, and those who they serve with. “When we leave the military, it can feel like we are leaving that family. We lose a part of ourselves – and it can be confusing and lonely. I am very thankful for the fact that our care coodinators at Easterseals Maine are able to become part of that family for veterans in out community, helping to ease the transition to civilian life.”
Veterans Count was founded to support the families of deployed service members and has evolved to meet the needs of veterans, service members, and their families.
For more information on how to help, visit www.vetscount.org/maine.
