THE MILITARY FAMILY: “I Miss Mommy” published for military children
Heather Skold
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) — It’s a familiar situation for all military families: a parent, deployed for months at a time; the other parent, raising the children solo.
For the Ross Family, this setup has played out several times while mom Ashley is deployed as a nurse in the Army, and husband Chad stays at home with their two daughters, Haley,5, and Callie, 3.
“There’s not really replacing anybody on a deployment,” said Cody Ross. “It [a deployment] puts a lot of stress on kids, and I don’t think a lot of people understand the family aspect of the military.”
Cody’s daughter inspired him to write his first just-published book, “I Miss Mommy.” It’s based on a comment their daughter Haley made while mom was in another country.
The Ross Family, with mom Ashley, who is in the Army.
“We’d drive under all the airplanes flying over, and then one April day, she just goes, ‘I’m tired of waiting for mama. I’m going to go pick her up now. I need to bring snacks, I need to bring my computer.”
That’s when Cody had to explain that the separation was going to last a very long time.
“I explained the whole year that mom was gone.”
More deployments are coming, too. The Ross Family just moved from Southern Colorado to Houston so that mom Ashley can get training to become a Nurse Practitioner. After this time, she will owe six more years to the Army.
Cody is no stranger to the military life, either, having served in the Virginia National Guard.
“I really just hope it helps families going through situations like that. I hope that people realize that military families have struggles, the kids are dealing with all that too, but we make it through and we all love each other.”
You can purchase “I Miss Mommy” here.