Labor Day

We recently celebrated Labor Day.  So many people think of Labor Day as simply a day off of work to celebrate the end of Summer.  The day isn’t about recognizing a specific person, group, or event but rather America’s workforce as a whole and the many achievements that have been contributed to our society. 

Before my husband lost three limbs in Afghanistan, I was a full-time employed mother of a newborn baby and the wife of a deployed serviceman.  All too often, I didn’t have the opportunity or luxury of taking a day off, let alone actually spending it relaxing.  The day I received the phone call (October 9^th, 2010) saying my husband was injured was a day that I walked away from a management position of a job I had held for 8 years. I had worked with the company since first getting my driver’s license and some of the employees practically raised me and became family.

After months went by with my husband’s recovery, I quickly began to realize that our situation would be a life-long process.  Granted my husband is strong-willed, over-achieving and typically tries to do everything on his own, I knew in my heart it was going to be extremely difficult for me to ever return to a job that I would be working 40+ hours a week along with raising our daughter.  This terrified me.  I needed to work for my sanity and well-being.  I needed to feel like I was contributing to society.

Today, I feel very blessed to have found the Heroes Thanking Heroes program. I have regained confidence and social aspects of my life that I had lost during our hard times.  I’m able to make a steady income for my family and still have a flexible schedule with the ability to work from home in case my family needs me.  I flourished into a team lead position and have the opportunity to work with some of the most incredible veterans and caregivers.   

We celebrated Labor Day very simply this year. My husband and I each chose something that would make us each feel accomplished of our work.  Generally, I would be completely against the idea of paying a housekeeper to clean our home.  This was my gift to myself this year.  The relief of coming home Monday afternoon to a beautifully clean house was worth so much more to me than the hard earned money I spent to make it happen.  My husband, being the avid hunter that he is, requested that we spend the evening in the woods welcoming opening weekend of archery season.  Though we didn’t make it more than a couple of hours due to the heat and boredom of a 6 year old, I could tell that he was beyond happy just having us there with him in the hunting blind. It’s the small things that mean the most.

By: Ashlee Williams