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Open Letter to Kurdish People

 The following article was reposted from CNN opinion page online. 

A letter to Kurdish Soldiers from a US military wife :

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Editor's Note:This article was written by the wife of a Special Operations soldier, who has served throughout the Middle East. CNN is not revealing her identity at her request. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. View more opinion at CNN.

(CNN) — Dear Kurdish soldiers,

You don't know me, but I have known of you for most of my adult life. When my military husband and I quickly married, knowing he was deploying to the Middle East to be part of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, I feared what he and his Special Operations unit would face when they arrived.

How bad would the fighting be? How long would they be gone? Would he survive? 

Months later, he returned and recounted to me what he could about his experience. I asked how he had made it through. He replied, "We had help. We had the Kurds."

Related Article: Ret. general: Syria pullback looks like an open door to disaster

He told me stories of how the Kurdish people in Northern Iraq supported the troops, advised them, stood by them, fought shoulder to shoulder with them in combat, and became allies and friends. And I became grateful -- immensely, unwaveringly, and forever grateful for you.

Since then, the word "Kurds" in my home has meant something. It has meant "ally" and "friendship."

There are pictures of Iraqi Kurds alongside my husband and fellow soldiers in our home. I have a coffee mug with depictions of female Syrian Kurdish soldiers on it that I proudly use to remind me of you. My children play soccer in their Kurdistan jerseys.

The Kurdish people are not nameless, faceless people across the world. You hold a place of honor and respect in our home. It's important to me that all of you know that. I owe you so much. My husband is home safe today after years of fighting and I know you helped make that happen.

But now, I watch the news in horror. I see promises broken, progress destroyed, years of hard work and unimaginable sacrifice gone in a tweet. I see allies betrayed, their faces in my picture frame. While watching the news, my children turn to me and ask if those are our friends and I say yes. They have looks of confusion on their faces.

Related Article: Kurdish People Fast Facts

I can't imagine what your families are going through. I can't imagine their fear. I can't imagine these things because for the last 17 years you have fought to help us keep an attack off our soil, and I know that has now compromised your safety. It breaks my heart.

Where I come from, a person's word means something. Our honor and integrity are everything, as I know yours are to you. To read in international newspapers that the United States, my country, has abandoned the Kurds is absolutely heartbreaking.

Hasty decisions like this have not only put your people in terrible danger, they make the situation for our soldiers there on the Syrian-Turkish border much more difficult. My husband was with you on that border not long ago and I can't imagine what our soldiers' families are feeling right now.

And it's not just safety. It's hard to imagine how difficult it is for American soldiers to hear a partner and ally's calls for help and not be allowed to answer them. It's also hard to imagine you having to turn to Putin or the Assad regime for support because you could no longer count on Americans to keep their promise.

I worry for the safety of you and your families. I worry about the instability of the region and what that could mean for the future. I worry about the thousands of ISIS fighters we worked so hard to put in prisons, and who you must walk away from as you defend yourselves. I can't imagine the threat that now poses for us all. I see the look on my husband's face when he watches the news at the end of the day. The only phrase that comes to mind is "I'm sorry."

I write you today, on behalf of my family, to say thank you for everything you have done for us. Thank you for your friendship, for keeping your word and fighting alongside us, for staying the course year after year. Thank you for keeping my husband safe so he could come back home to me and my children. You have my sincerest prayers today that you too may safely return to yours. Thank you to your families that sacrificed without you, so you could make this partnership happen.

I pray we return to your side, that we stand by you, and that this has not all been in vain.

Forever yours,

A Grateful Wife

Happy "Gotcha Day", sweet Boaz!!

Two years ago today: you officially became ours! We love you, Boaz Gaon Schurter!

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

True, that.

Moving on!

God gifted us with Julie Duncan 5 years ago ... she helped get us through a bad real estate transaction. Since then, Julie has patiently PATIENTLY walked us through countless homes in Bloomington/ Normal!! 

She's toured us through homes in the country, homes in old neighborhoods, homes in the inner city, and homes in rural neighborhoods. We've toured some homes with basements Julie wouldn't step foot in, and she even helped us get our suburban out of a snowbank during the Polar Vortex!!!

Today marks the end of our journey in home searching ... We're thanking God for guiding us to our new home! Our Closing is Monday morning!!

And if Julie's attentiveness to the nitty gritty details of home purchasing was not enough (and it is!!) Julie treated our little people to new swings/ reading nooks for our fabulous new backyard!

(She also gifted them with a life supply of Ice Breakers mints: wintergreen breath mints our kids have dubbed, "Julie Mints"... after the ones she's shared with them on our many many  "field trip"/ house tours!!)

Words cannot express how much we value you, Julie! Your expertise and thoughtfulness have been a tremendous blessing to our family... We are wowed to find the "perfect" place, when we weren't even sure what we were looking for!
We're SO thankful for your friendship!!

(And a high-five to Doug and Angela for introducing us!)

Here's to the next season of adventures in the life and times of the Schurter crew!!!

"Thank you, Jon Stewart."

9/11 First Responders Bill before Congress.

Excellent, powerful example of advocacy.  This should be viewed by every American.

'Way to bring an often inept, sluggish, and derelict US Congress to task. 

And let's not miss how inspiring it is to see a celebrity using their platform to stand up for truth and justice. From the wife of a first responder; "Thank you, Jon Stewart."