Hi everyone, welcome to thanks for being here, a short, weekly pod to remind us of the many

essential and beautiful ways we affect one another. Every Sunday, I'll read a submission from a

listener, Kelly Corrigan wonders, could be wedding vows or about mitzvah toast, a eulogy, or retirement

speech. We believe this is probably the loveliest way to tap into our better selves and remember

our highest values. We encourage you to share this podcast each week with one person you love.

Maybe someone you miss need to bring closer, someone you want to feel your appreciation or admiration

or both. This is thanks for being here.

Today's thanks for being here comes from a woman named Nancy Brown. She says,

Hi Kelly, I'm a writer, a teacher, a mother, and a military spouse of nearly 19 years.

Lately, I've been writing to process this unique lifestyle, experiences, and the way it is so

very different but also the same as everyone else's story. This tribute is about my two best

deployment buddies, and the way it felt to form a family while we live through a few deployments

in eastern North Carolina and raise nine children together. No one could have predicted that the three

of us would have become lifelines for each other, but we did. These are the women who left

PDLite on the doorstep before there was Instacart. The women who will stay at the hospital during

your emergency appendectomy. The women who will help you pick your shoes for a homecoming.

On paper, we were much more different than alike, but maybe that's a more accurate description

of a family after all. To Erica and Jess, thanks for being there,

Camp Lejeune 2016. Nancy titled her submission, The Lejeune Family.

Damn the screen, damn the cold, damn the missing mitten, damn deployment, damn these wasting days.

Si, call, text, email, everyone, anyone, someone. Jess answers.

Erica comes over on a chilly Tuesday night and the kids leap from the cars to run a

...