Two weekends ago Darrick and I were invited to attend the Returning Warriors Workshop. It is held all over the USA but thankfully for us this one was held in Seattle. It is fully paid for by the military and totally worth every penny. We arranged childcare for the kids-Naomi went to Auntie Karen's and the boys and Oliver went to the Timmermans. We arrived in Seattle Friday afternoon at our 4 star hotel and attended a buffet dinner. We enjoyed our night relaxing in our room and watching TV. 
We had an early morning the next morning and had to sit at a table that we would sit at for the rest of the weekend. Each table had one facilitator and then we had 2 other couples and one single sailor. There was about 100 people total who have all returned recently from being deployed. 
There were presentations and workshops on the affect of stressful deployment situations, how to adjust back to life at home, but I think the best one was giving everyone a chance to share their story of what it was like for them. This we did with the other members at our table. They each could relate to one another and support each other. The service members were called "warriors" and then they could bring a "Guest". No one wore uniforms or used their titles so that every one is equal. Another meaningful event was the Banquet of Honor. This was held Saturday night and we got to dress up. As we walked in to the room we walked through a huge group of people cheering for the service members and thanking them for serving. It was very touching. We had a delicious dinner and were each presented with certificates of appreciation.
We are so thankful that we could attend and talk to others who are going through the same difficult transition as us.
2 comments:
Sounds awesome!
thanks for sharing Jenn! :)
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