July 8, 2012

How have the presidents helped me? Let me count the ways...

President Obama has not been exactly everything I hoped he'd be, but I'm sitting in my home giving a huge sigh of thankfulness for him. Here's why:


President* Bush sent my husband to Iraq for questionable reasons. When my husband left he was whole, awesome, one of the sweetest, kindest men you'll ever meet (and he's a Dem, don't let the lies about the military being filled with Republicans fool you). When he returned it was as a completely different person; mentally and physically. Still my husband, no doubt, and I will stay with him and support him forever, but changed nonetheless. Not helpful.

President Obama and his policies have made a huge difference in our lives. He has implemented changes in our VA system that are slowly but surely making it a better, more efficient program (takes a lot longer to fix a mess than make one and there has been a lot of time to screw that system up). I have seen the benefits personally, especially for those who are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Michelle Obama, along with Dr. Jill Biden brought us Joining Forces which has helped many people in America become aware of what it's like to be deployed and what life is like as you try to re-build after. I see this all the time in the blogs and Facebook posts of military families. And most recently there have been many programs implemented to help hire Veterans. I have also personally seen people go from extremely frustrated at Veterans Hiring Fairs in the past several years to recently walking away from hiring fairs with solid responses and scheduled dates for training that will lead to employment (my husband and a friend), and even being interviewed and hired on the spot. The sense of hope that grows in our Veterans is amazing to watch after so many years of frustration and having a sense of people not caring. This has meant so much to me.

Lastly, we found out recently that we qualify for Making Homes Affordable Act; I can't tell you how much refinancing our house is going to help us. A world of difference is happening right here and right now for us and we are so thankful.

That's us, how about you? How have presidents helped (or not) you and your family.