Upcoming Keynote Speaker in Kingston!

Well, it seems news of the blog is spreading which is both exciting and touching. Perhaps there's a small comfort in knowing that someone else can relate to what I'm feeling, writing, and thinking. And so a great surprise came yesterday when a member of the Board for the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre asked that I serve as the keynote speaker for their conference in October, to discuss both my blog and my experiences as a military spouse and as a woman in the forces. What an honour! First and foremost, I should mention the purpose of a Military Family Resource Centre (also known as a MFRC). Here is their link. http://www.familyforce.ca/sites/Kingston/EN/Pages/default.aspx Their mandate is essentially to ensure the health and well being of the military community but a large aspect of their work focuses on caring for families while members are deployed, on course, or simply away from home. And what a fantastic job they do of it! I receive a call monthly from a member to ensure I am coping well with Ben's deployment. They have courses on how to cope with the return of a spouse from tour (I think I should have gone to that one!). They offer shopping trips, movie nights, emergency child care, and classes to educate and entertain. These staff members and volunteers are champions for military families and they deserve so much recognition for that fact. I applaud them. And I so much look forward to speaking at their event! I should have just had my knee surgery at that point, so here's hoping I won't be hopped on too many pain pills and still wearing my PJs and drooling from the corner of my mouth. Ha.  In the meantime, I'll have to brush up on my public speaking abilities. I used to be good at it, once upon a time. But here's the thing...I'm good at speaking on a specific topic. I can give a mean presentation on "How to Write the Perfect Essay" or "What It Is to Be a Logistics Officer". But to speak about how I feel?!? Oh...I sense potential for tears with my inclination for emotion, especially because when it comes to Ben, there is just so much emotion and love and concern and devotion. How do I speak about that without being reduced to big crocodile drops? And to be surrounded by such a supportive environment only continues to lend itself to tears. And although I imagine this is not a shocking statement to the readers, the military isn't what I would call the most emotional of careers to be in. It's not exactly applauded when you break into tears in uniform. And so I imagine it's going to feel very foreign, to stand in front of a group and say how lonely I feel and that sometimes, I am sad when Ben is gone. But then I know they will understand. They've been there. And it will all be okay. Kindly prepare yourselves, Kingston MFRC members. I get teary. But oh...I speak from the heart! See you soon!

Kelly