I’ve started writing this story at least 8497 times in the last 12 years. This is my 3rd attempt just this morning. I’ve finally decided that I’m just going to jump in and start recording my thoughts, memories and stories as best I can and organize them properly later.
For years now, I have been telling my husband that I’d like to write about how the war in Iraq shaped not only the story of our lives, but those who are still closest to us. He is humble. And angry. Plus a whole host of other emotions about the things he went through. His response was that our experiences really weren’t unique or worth writing about. I explained for the millionth time that I wasn’t talking about a documentary detailing just what his unit did during combat, but rather the personal stories that were involved with his fellow soldiers and their families.
I intend to experiment with different writing techniques in attempting to describe events and repercussions. My hope is that collectively, they will help people gain a perspective they wouldn’t have had otherwise. I feel like sometimes people and situations get lumped into categories (this is a story about combat, this is a story about the crumbling of personal relationships, this is a story about adjusting to life after war) that are too broad to be relatable. I want to break them down to be personal in a way that helps people to truly understand the lasting effects that wars have.
I also hope that anyone who is involved with the war currently or is struggling to reconcile past experiences might find comfort knowing what others have gone through and how they came out the other side. Not all of these stories have happy endings. Also, many of these journeys aren’t over yet.
And now, with that longwinded preface, I can finally get started….which might actually help close a chapter of my own life.
Who The Hell Am I 