When you enlist in the United States Military, you don’t just sign yourself up for years of duty, you also commit your loved ones to a life of service all their own. No one knows this better than Elaine Brye, an army-brat turned military wife turned military mom of four officers, each serving in a different branch of the military: Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, and Navy. Brye’s father and mother met while both serving in the U. S. Army and her childhood was that of a typical army-brat, with frequent moves-some to faraway countries-dinner-table conversations full of military lingo, an ever-present anxiety during her father’s deployments to Vietnam and elsewhere, and family vacations to national monuments and battlefields. In 1976-the first year women were accepted in the service academies and ROTC-Brye herself enlisted in the Air Force, where she would later meet her husband, an Air Force pilot. Now Elaine Brye is a mom to four military officers, and for more than a decade she’s endured countless teary goodbyes, sparse communication from boot camps and training summers, deployments, emotional airport reunions, empty chairs at Thanksgiving dinners, and sleepless hours waiting for phone calls in the night. She’s navigated the complicated tangle of emotions-pride, worry, fear, hope, and deep, enduring love-that accompanies life as a military mom. In Be Safe, Love Mom Brye reflects on her family’s military service and offers a lifetime’s worth of insight, comfort, wisdom, and a bit of humor to fellow military moms who are navigating the unpredictable life that accompanies having a child-or children- in uniform. In intimate and instructive essays-on topics ranging from that first goodbye on Induction Day to the comforting power of the military community, from the healing power of faith to coping with the enormous sacrifice military life requires- Brye braids together her own personal experiences with those of fellow parents she’s met along the way, offering gentle guidance and hard-earned wisdom to those new to the sisterhood of military moms. In this one mom doing her best to hold down the home front, readers will find a wise and endearing friend to guide them through the unpredictable life of having a child in uniform, all the while reminding us that within each military mom’s personal story lies universal experiences of courage, loss, loneliness, faith, pride, and ultimately, a parent’s unconditional love.
