ME

This article was sent to us by Natalie S., an eighth grader stationed in Texas. Do you have a story to share with your fellow military teens? Visit our writing page to find out how you can submit to Bloom!

I’m supposed to be the tough kid, you know,

nothing can hurt me.

But the truth is locked up deep inside me

and nobody can find the key.

I mean sure, I’m the military kid,

but I shouldn’t be defined by the things my parents did.

I can have feelings without having someone say,

“Are you okay? Did someone die?”

We should be able to be sad without someone going,

“Ha! Wasn’t your dad in the Army?”

Cause personally that hurts me.

But I’m proud to say that my parents were in the military,

because that means that they were caring.

Everything our parents did, mine and yours,

shows how much they cared and loved,

and that's not something anyone has the right to make fun of.

We are military kids, that’s true. Yet, we don’t have to look heartless to others. It’s okay to have feelings: sadness, anger, happiness, etc. That’s normal. Often, we’ve been through so much compared to other kids, so we might have more anger and sadness, and that’s okay.