More than a soldier

By: Claire Bott

I never really thought about what inspires me. Life usually just passes day after day, and I don't spend much time thinking about things that make me feel inspired. Most of the time, my struggles are over really small, annoying things, like a cold shower, just something dumb.

For this Warrior Stories, I'm looking for someone who is really inspiring. But I realized I didn't have to look, the most inspiring people were probably the ones I see every day. My family, even though I never really thought about them like that before.

The person who has inspired me the most is my dad, Jeffery Bott. His career in the Army and with all the stuff in the news these days, so I wondered if he had some stories that could inspire me. I also thought it would be a chance to get to know him better.

So I asked him to tell me about his story in the army. We lived together, but I haven't heard his true stories before. 

Dad: My service to the country was the hardest thing that I did in my life, and it had nothing to do with the two tours to the war that happened before you were even born.”

Learning about my dad's past before he was my dad opened up questions I have never asked. Before he was a dad, he was a soldier, and I wondered about that more.

Dad: You know the story better than you think, but we just don’t talk about it.  The hardest thing in my life was to continue my service despite having three kids.  You probably don’t remember all the times that I was gone, because by the time you were 9 years old, I had retired from the Army, but for most of the years of your siblings' lives, I was away with the Army.  I would be working in faraway cities or even countries while Mommy and her parents took care of the family.

When I realized how much he sacrificed, I remembered being a kid and not understanding why he was gone so much. 

Claire: “I do remember you were gone a lot, but now things are so normal. So, where do I find something inspiring about that whole story?”

Dad: I am glad you asked because the story is about the love story between your Mommy and I. The inspiration should be found in the strength to start a family with someone in the military during a time of war. We knew we loved each other and we wanted to give our lives increased meaning, so we decided having children would be a great way to build a life together. This act of courage dwarfs any act on the battlefield.”

When my dad met my mom, he was an enlisted soldier and barely had a dollar to his name. They dated for years and years, and she inspired him to save money for their future family.

That's when I realized the story wasn't just about the Army but about my parents too and how hard they bothed worked while he was away. 

 When they started a family, my dad couldn't lie and said it was scary for him. Not having much and knowing kids cost a lot, he was nervous but ready.  

Dad: “It was more than us; Grandma and Grandpa were part of the team too. If we didn't have their help to buy the house and to take care of you kids, we would never have had the things that we have today.”  

That made me realize that my mom's role in the story is very important as well. While my dad was away she was the one taking care of the kids and the one in charge of keeping the house feeling like a home. She took care not just of me but my two other siblings.

Mom:  “I spent ten years as a stay-at-home mom, putting my career on hold to create a loving home for my family. I didn’t do it alone, my parents lived with us and offered invaluable guidance on parenting, and my older sister, who had already raised three sons, was involved in my children’s lives. She lived ten minutes away and was a constant source of support.As for my husband, our entire family stood behind him in his career. We understood that the more he gave to his country, the more he was also securing a future for us. Our marriage was truly a team effort, centered around our family.”

After hearing all of this, I saw what both have done for this family, and I thought I would just hear about my dad's time in the Army, but instead, I learned about the sacrifices they made for the whole family. For me, my dad and mom's story showed that they both worked just as hard for this life.