“I love serving my country. I love that I’m one of the men that is part of the millions, past and present, who have dedicated their life, and sometimes sacrificed their own, to the freedom of hundreds of millions. I love the pride I feel when I put on my uniform. I love the honor. But I don’t like the feeling of being away from my wife of 5 years and the fact that it was a picture of me that caused my son to say “Dadda,” and not me in person. I miss them, daily, nightly, and every time in between. I told my wife, Laura, how hard it was to remember the qualities of our family, the little, special intricacies that define US, our family. It wasn’t long after that I received an Expressionary. I had no idea what it was at first, but as I flipped through, a color photo printed on one of the pages caught my eye– it was the last family photo we took before my current deployment. It was placed below the word “strength” (we always talk about how strong we are together). As I continued to flip through the Expressionary, more and more photos caught my eyes, all below words that described the little, special intricacies that defined us, the same qualities that I had felt were so hard to tangibly remember thousands of miles from home. Now, I have no trouble remembering. I look at my Expressionary daily, and smile, knowing what I get to come home to.”