Sisters-in-Service
Are you a women veteran who feels unseen and unheard? Do you struggle with finding your purpose after service? Sisters-in-Service is a podcast that gives women veterans the platform to talk about those exact issues and more. Hear from other veterans, military spouses and Veteran Service Organizations (VSO) just like you that have overcome their transition from the military. Every Tuesday this podcast encourages women veterans to stand up and be counted because as a group we have a voice. From your host - Cat Corchado - The Voice Connecting Women Veterans
Sisters-in-Service
Navigating Life's Transitions as a Military Brat
Ever wondered how a transient childhood could shape a person’s storytelling ability and worldview? Join me, alongside the talented author and screenwriter Contessa Thornton, as we unravel the adventurous and challenging world of growing up as military brats. From Fort Bragg to various corners of the globe, our conversation reveals what it’s like to constantly adapt to new environments and communities. Discover how these unique experiences instilled adaptability and social skills that remain invaluable throughout our lives.
Explore the often-unspoken responsibilities and pressures that accompany a military upbringing. Contessa and I delve into the structured environment of discipline and respect that defined our childhoods, impacting the paths we ultimately chose. As a single parent, my own decision to join the military was shaped by a profound sense of duty and necessity. We also reflect on the crucial role of parental guidance in nurturing individual strengths and interests, whether through academics, sports, or personal passions.
Contessa’s screenplay, set against the poignant backdrop of the Vietnam era, opens up a heartfelt dialogue about the legacy of military families. By sharing her father's story and those of other veterans, we emphasize the importance of preserving these powerful narratives. Our discussion also highlights the joy and inspiration found in meeting strangers, with anecdotes that celebrate spontaneous interactions in everyday life. Embrace the endless stories waiting to be told, as we encourage you to find inspiration in the world around you.
Welcome to Sisters in Service podcast. Most of you know me as a strong advocate for women veterans in being recognized not only as veterans but also as women who are changing the world through our passion of serving even after service. This podcast is my passion by telling all the stories of military brats, military spouses, active duty and veterans, not to forget the veteran service organizations that help us along our transition journey. I want to thank you in advance for listening. I hope that you will join me. Every week, a new podcast and episode comes out every Tuesday, so I hope that you will join and I hope that you enjoy. This podcast is brought to you by Small Space Pilates. Are you ready to get fit and fabulous from the comfort of your own home? Look no further than Small Space Pilates. With live online Pilates and strength training classes, a video library and a no perfection allowed policy, you can achieve your fitness goals without ever leaving your house. Click on the link for your complimentary week and start your journey to feeling fabulous today. Hi everyone, welcome to another episode, our latest episode of Sisters in the Service. You know me, I'm the freaking fabulous Kat Corchato.
Speaker 1:Episode of Sisters in the Service. You know me, I'm the freaking fabulous. Kat Corchado, and my guest today is going to be talking about something that some of us may have experienced, and that's being a military brat. Maybe you were a military brat, where your family either mom, dad or both traveled and you got to stay in one place, or you might have been the other kind of military brat, like I was, where I went everywhere my family did. So we're going to dish a little bit about that, and today I have the pleasure of diving into the world of storytelling with the incredibly talented Contessa Thornton. Contessa, right, isn't that a great name? She's not just an author, but a screenwriter with a knack for capturing the essence of life's complexities through her captivating narratives, and so she has a romantic comedy that's coming up. We're going to be talking about that, but first I want to welcome Contessa Thornton. Contessa, welcome to Sisters in Service.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much, Kat, for having me.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, you're welcome. Happy holidays, by the way. A lot of us are still on holiday and you know going on holiday is great, but coming back you're kind of like what am I doing? Where am I going? What's my name? I kind of had a little bit of do I remember how to do an interview.
Speaker 2:So, contessa, tell us the years that you were actually a military brat. Absolutely so. I was born in 1975. And so from 1975 to 1989, when my father retired, I was a military brat, very proud military brat.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so you traveled with your dad, right? You went to different places with him, with your whole family.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so. None of us are from the same place. You know, as a military brat you don't have a place. So people say where are you from? I don't know.
Speaker 1:OK, I guess I could choose one, but I don't know.
Speaker 2:I was actually born in Fort Bragg, north Carolina. My oldest brother was born in Fort Hood, texas, which we kind of claim Texas, and my little brother was born in Germany.
Speaker 1:So yeah, so was my little brother. So I was born in England. My brother, steve, is the weirdo. He's born in the States of Michigan and my little brother was born in Germany. I love it, I love it. I don't know about you, but I felt as though and this is as a child that it was. It was great that, you know, we got to go to different places. We got to. I never had any what can I say? Not hateful feelings, but just like, oh you know, kind of, oh, we're moving again. I thought this is how people live, this is what you did. How did you feel about being a military brat? I?
Speaker 2:absolutely realized that I was different. I started to realize it, right, I thought that all people constantly moved. I thought that all people only spent this amount of time at this school. And then you constantly move here and recreate your life, right? Um, I loved it when I was little, right, because it always seemed like an adventure. But as I got older, I started to feel the effects of it, because then I realized I didn't actually belong anywhere. Um, I didn't have a place where I belonged. But again, I did not realize that till I got older. As a kid, it was always an adventure.
Speaker 1:Absolutely and I totally agree with that. And I think that, to go back to what you said before about always moving to different schools, I thought that's just what you did. My mom would say give me 20 minutes and I come back with a friend, and so you had to learn how to what's that word or phrase? Get along. You know you had to know how to talk to people, but I think I was older than you when I realized that you know getting, you know being older, and I think I started to realize it when my I walked in the door and my dad said when my.
Speaker 1:I walked in the door and my dad said we're going to. Germany, and I was 14 and I was like no, I don't want to go to Germany and my dad said like, yeah, well, we're going. And we tried everything. I was in sports and even my my coach was like look, you know, we can find it, find your place to stay. My aunt stepped in, my dad's like nope, she's going to Germany, and so it can be a little. You know, at the age of 14, I mean and I'm still here to talk about it.
Speaker 1:You guys, when I hear on the news about a kid that, oh you know, a kid got in trouble, and they're like, oh well, he's been to five different schools, and I was like, yeah, well, so have I I mean, it's like no big deal.
Speaker 2:You know, I, I, I would come home. I remember I would go to school and I would come home and the whole house would be packed up. Okay, because my family, we were not involved in those kinds of conversations, I didn't have that kind of home, you know, um, and everything would be packed up, and then we would end up in another country and it's snowing and there's different people, and it's like, oh my goodness, and then that very next day is school time. School was never broken in this process, right?
Speaker 1:No, it wasn't Remember yeah.
Speaker 2:Yes, it was broken. There was no transitioning you. Literally, you got school tomorrow.
Speaker 1:Like oh, yep, here's, here's your new classmate and you just folded right into what everybody else was doing. You know, I think it's really important to talk about that when we were both as military brats, that as an adult I look back on it thinking I got to see things and do things that a lot of kids only got to read about in books or see in a movie.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 1:I think being in different cultures built up this tolerance for different foods, different people, different languages, just different. You're like, oh okay, that's what they're doing. Okay, cool, you know. It wasn't like oh, I hate that and this. And you know, when people speak a different language, I don't assume they're talking about me. I'm just like, wow, they're speaking a second language. That's so cool. What did you think about that, contessa? You know?
Speaker 2:at first I was a little fearful and then I learned to adjust to it and it became, like you said, like the movies almost there was a family I'll never forget. I had gotten a little bit older and I started to get used to this living as a military brat. And possibly the second time we went to Germany and my father had met a German family, and they weren't military at all, they weren't even, you know, attached to us, just the fact that they lived in a town next to us and they invited all of the military people to their home. So we go to this home, kat, and no one speaks English. No one. Okay, so it's all these kids. There were animals, there's horses, there's food, there's drink, there's all these things, and these people are all speaking a different language, but you could tell they're welcoming us right, yes, it was a friendly atmosphere.
Speaker 2:Very friendly. I had no idea at this time. I hadn't learned how to speak German, so I'm just like, okay, but guess what? We couldn't speak their language, they couldn't speak our, but we did have love and we spent the entire day there.
Speaker 1:And food. That's a universal language right, Universal.
Speaker 2:There was food, there was barbecue, there was big layouts of sweets and things. I mean, you lived in Germany, you know how they do it and I was like this is bad. They had games, they had everything. And I'm like I was like this is bad, they had games, they had everything. And I'm like, wow, and I realized I am special, I'm special. I remember really feeling special. I think I was about seven years old and I was like I'm special.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, who else gets to do that? I mean some kids, do you know? They get to travel over the world, but for what I call regular people, regular folks like us you know that it wasn't like, oh, let's, let's, let's go live in Germany. It was like, yeah, we're going to Germany. But I think one of the things that, being in different countries, the one thing that I understood was that, no matter how much you botched their language, they always appreciate the fact that you tried to speak their language. And to this day, I can still count to 10 in German. Don't ask me why that's in my head, but I can just be like, yep, I got it and it's right.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it and I can too, and I wear that badge of honor. You know, I realized I was it, I love it and I can too, and I and I wear that badge of honor. You know, I realized I was special. Like I said, it kicked in probably around that time. I'm like I'm really special.
Speaker 2:So I realized how do you even land in a country like this? And it was so beautiful, yes, so beautiful, you know. And that's when I realized that being a military brat was special and I loved it and and you know, the only thing that I did notice it was that we were a family with, inside of families, we always lived on bases, you know. So here we are on the base, and then we would leave the base. Then I realized, oh so there's a world outside of us too. So it was just a big beautiful. Maybe that's why I'm a writer right, because everything was just very colorful the language, the people, the different places. Even in the United States, every neighborhood I ever lived in came with a lot of different cultures.
Speaker 1:But it was almost a culture. In a culture Like, you are a military brat and no matter if you went overseas or to another base, there was a military community and ready to embrace you. It didn't matter if you know the person you're talking to. Their dad was an officer and your dad was enlisted, it didn't matter, we're all in the same boat together. We all played together, we all did the same things together. You know they were like oh, dad does this. You know, we just went out and we were just being kids and we were just kids.
Speaker 2:We just understood oh hi, I'm Tessa. Exactly, you know and you're and and and that's what I loved about it the sense of family, because, being a military brat, I didn't have my family, I didn't know my family, my biological family, and that's where the new family was created. Absolutely, I had aunts and I had uncles and I had cousins and I'm like, oh my gosh, I've got all this family, you know, and everyone was different races.
Speaker 1:OK yeah, it didn't matter. You were military and you mattered. You know, I had a best friend in Germany and we were so tight that I would just go over house and walk in like oh and? And her dad called me his other daughter. Oh, there's my other daughter, you know, it was just. It was amazing. Um, contessa, let me ask you this question. Growing up in a military family comes with, you know, unique set of experiences. How has this background shaped your perspective on storytelling, especially when it comes to themes of resilience and mental health awareness?
Speaker 2:Absolutely A topic I would like to, you know, bring to the forefront is, as much as we are smiling and laughing and enjoying the experiences of being military brats, it does come with a lot. These men and women struggle with a lot in their positions and their jobs, trying to take care of their families. I've come from a place where my father was the person that worked. My mother was the homemaker, right.
Speaker 1:Yes, mine too.
Speaker 2:That was her job, point blank. That was her job and he took care of everything, but it came with a lot of alcoholism, mental health issues. My father served in the Vietnam War and I didn't understand this growing up. I found out when I grew older and seeing other families and situations mental health situation, alcoholisms and other things, abusive situations. Sometimes it was a lot.
Speaker 1:It was a lot.
Speaker 2:Yes, there's a lot of pressure put on these men and women, and not only are they serving the country for us, they are also trying to serve their families Because, again, when I grew up, those, those soldiers, men or women, were the head of the households most of the time, taking care of large families. I'm a family of four yes, well, four siblings, you know. So it wasn't easy.
Speaker 1:I get that. I think one of the things that when you talked about pressure, there were pressure on us as dependents and and if you were a military brat, you know what I'm about to say Remember the ID card, the military ID card? Okay, how many times did you lose that card? And my brother and I would have to sit and listen to a two hour lecture from my father. I'm like, just just shoot me now. I'd rather just I just, and so you know, if we got into trouble, guess who else got into trouble?
Speaker 2:Yes, okay.
Speaker 1:So my dad would lay down the law. He's like you can get in trouble if you want to, but if I get in trouble, guess who else is getting in trouble? Lots of pressure.
Speaker 2:Lots of pressure.
Speaker 1:And I remember one time I had just gotten a brand new ID card after going through the whole two hour lecture. I had gone to Stuttgart for a track meet and I came home and guess what? I couldn't find my ID card. Now I did not tell my father at the moment I thought maybe I misplaced it Right. So you know, on the old ID cards I don't know if they have it now, but on the old ID cards used to say, if found place in any mailbox, ok, and it would get. So I went to go check mail and guess what was in the mailbox? My ID card. I was like oh, thank you Jesus.
Speaker 2:Because it was a lot you know, and so we brought that up. It was a lot you know, and so we brought that up. But the responsibility that we learned as young children, it really shaped a lot of my views of everything. Right being that little would have to be responsible, and you knew you were responsible for that military ID card, remembering things, learning new languages and things like that. That's a lot of pressure to put on any normal child, right? I can remember I was a. I had really bad allergies so I just had to go to the military hospital to get my shots and I was expected to know his social security number.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, remember that Like automatic.
Speaker 2:What's your sponsor, social? You asked that question. What's?
Speaker 1:your sponsor social.
Speaker 2:You know, I had to go sign in, you know, to get those shots, and those are things that we had to do, scared or not. I was a very shy child, and so what I used to do is I used to absorb a lot of things. You know, I would absorb those times. I would look at things happening around me in the hospital, watch people interact. I would watch the people interact in the hospital, watch people interact. I would watch the people interact in the stores with us, right and, and I would watch people, just just watch it, and I remember the vast change of being on base and then leaving base and how we were expected to behave. Yes, oh yes, absolutely yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, um, I don't even understand anything other than that my kids, of course.
Speaker 1:I say I call their name.
Speaker 2:They're like yes what we didn't even know though there was. Those were like bad words to us.
Speaker 1:You could not say that we're like huh wait what?
Speaker 2:the whole house would shut down. It would shut down, it would shut down. But I loved it. I loved it, kat. I loved the fact it taught me structure, it taught me respect. It taught me a lot. It taught me a lot.
Speaker 1:It did, I think I want to ask you this question. So some military brats don't go in the military for various reasons, and some do. What was your why for not going in? Or was it even an option? Or did you even think it was an option for yourself?
Speaker 2:You know the as odd as it is. You know, my dad served. He went in when he was 17 years old and he served proudly. My older brother went in. He never made it a expectation for us to join the military, which was odd. I'm happy to say that he really honed into who we were as a person, and so, for me, I was a reader, I was a writer and I loved school, and so he made sure that he kept me with books, and if I had downtime, I was to be reading or writing at all times. I can remember that from the time I was little, and so he always honed into who you were, and that's what he did. My older sister, she, was a sports person, so that's what he did. You know, as long as your grades are right, you can continue to play sports, you know, I remember that that was a.
Speaker 1:thing, it was a. Thing. I mean, you would get benched in a heartbeat if you did not carry. I can't remember what the grade point average was, but they were like nope, you're not playing today.
Speaker 2:You can scoot up but you're not going to play. He literally almost shut my sister down. She had gotten in trouble for her grades and I remember she was playing in Birmingham basketball and I remember her having the meltdown of all meltdowns.
Speaker 2:And I really didn't know what was going on Her grades, but he always honed into who we were as people. I remember my older brother at that time. He liked karate, he loved Bruce Lee, and I remember my father I don't even know how I found it, but my father found him some nunchucks and it was full of Bruce Lee stuff, and so I am very, very honored that he did not make us do that. You know he really cultivated us each as children and what our gifts were. But if that's your gift, you were expected to be good at it.
Speaker 1:Well, I think it's interesting that my father never made me go in the military. But my father also thought that, you know, I was just going to grow up, get married, have kids, rinse and repeat, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I had a different scenario in mind and so when I joined the military, it's because I had to, and when I say had to, I was a single parent is because I had to. And when I say had to, I was a single parent. And I said, you know what? I need to go in for four years, mind you, I retired at 20. Okay, I was going to go in for just four years to figure it out. And you know, and when, every time it was time to re-up, I had just gotten orders or my son was getting ready to go into another, like middle school, from grade school, and I'm like, okay, not yet, I'll do another four. And then you know what I mean. And it was. And then pretty soon it was just I was like, wow, 20 years.
Speaker 1:I think it's interesting that you talked about the Vietnam war, because I remember distinctly that I was watching this on TV and my father had gone to Vietnam and we, as dependents, and his family. We had to move off base. It's different now. You don't have to, it was mandatory. We could still utilize the base, but we weren't allowed to live on the base. But we weren't allowed to live on the base and I remember my, my father, coming back and watching on TV.
Speaker 1:You know these soldiers being spit on and I remember looking at my dad going, why are they doing that? And all my dad was, and my father was so how can I say this? Not noncommittal. But he was just like, oh yeah, well, you know, some people don't agree with what's going on. And he left it there and I was like, oh okay, you know, and as a child, you know you're like, oh okay, he knows better than I do. But I remember thinking back then that it was somehow wrong, and I didn't know any of the politics, I didn't know anything about it, but it just felt wrong because of the fact that my father was wearing the uniform. So, contessa, let's talk about your screenplay. Now. You've written a screenplay that's set in the Vietnam era, correct?
Speaker 2:Do you want?
Speaker 1:to talk a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. So. The story follows a man that joins the military. He's not drafted, he actually goes ahead and joins, but there is some, some people that are drafted and it goes through this.
Speaker 2:This man that goes through the experience of the Vietnam War and what that looked like in and live action. Right, it's not the average. There's there's movies out about Vietnam, but it touches home for me because I am a daughter of a Vietnam veteran and I got to see it unfold before my eyes right Now. I was born at that time, right, but I got to see the effects of it. There's men and women that served in that war and, you're right, they didn't come home decorated, they didn't come home welcomed and actually they all went quiet.
Speaker 2:When I started doing my research with different veterans for this screenplay, they don't want to talk about it. No, a lot of the research that I did had to be done outside, by reading and of documentaries, because our veterans don't want to talk about it. The reason I'm trying to talk about it is because this is a very important part of history. It's not taught in schools and I don't want this memory of these soldiers to go away, right, because those stories of what happened in that war, even though it's not being spoken of, affected people like me and my family and your family and many families, and so a lot of these veterans are passing away and once they pass away, the story passes away and I feel like, as an honor and an ode to my father and your father and any woman man that had to serve in that story, it needs to be told and it needs to be brought.
Speaker 2:It does carry along the life of military families, military children, the way that we had to create family and the way we had to deal with those soldiers after they got back and what their lives look like, and so it is very, very close to my heart. Those veterans are very, very close to my heart. The story behind it really does touch on the Agent Orange initiative that those soldiers had to go through. So those things are very, very near and dear to me and again, this story is going to go away if someone does not bring it back to the forefront. And I think with history you always have to have people that continue to carry that torch. And for me, watching my father experience the things that he experienced with having served in that war, proudly, proudly I will say that proudly. It affected me in ways that.
Speaker 1:I can't explain Absolutely. I think it's important to tell the story, which you are doing, from the military child's perspective. Yes, ma'am, and I don't think anyone's ever done that. And military is huge in my family. My father was Air Force, I was Air Force, my husband was Air Force, my father-in-law was an Army Ranger. His uncle, my husband's uncle, was something like that. I mean, he was in the Army too. So it's huge. And here's the here's. The one thing that I started just really questioning is that none of them, including my father, and he was not combat but he never, ever talks about it. He never said a word about it. My, my father-in-law never talks about Vietnam. My, my uncle never talked about Vietnam. They never said. It's like they zipped it up. Yes, ma'am.
Speaker 1:And you're afraid to bring it up because you think it's like taboo.
Speaker 2:Isn't that weird that we both explain it the same way. It feels like this right, like there's really nothing to say. It, it's just like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they never. You know. My dad would say sometimes oh you know, I don't know what to say about it. Maybe it was so horrific that it's just better to leave it alone. But it, you know, if anyone is listening, you know, if you have an answer to this question for me and Contessa, you know, please let us know. You know, why is it? They don't talk about it, and it doesn't matter what their job was, it was just they don't say anything about it.
Speaker 2:I mean, you know it's crazy because I I've talked to army, I've talked to Navy veterans, Like I've tried all types of you know, I thought maybe it's the branch right.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's branch wide. I mean, no matter what branch you're in, nobody who served during Vietnam talks about it.
Speaker 2:No no. And I again history has to continue right, the stories have to continue. We have to understand, and I can remember growing up when I started understanding that my dad was a Vietnam vet, because they used to always say it and I'm like what does that mean? I remember we didn't even really talk about it in school and I'm like so are we just gonna? I'm like did in my head when I was younger kid. I used to think did it even happen?
Speaker 1:because we don't yeah, oh, you know absolutely, yeah, I really think did it even happen, because we don't talk about school. You know, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:I really started thinking did it even happen? But it did.
Speaker 1:It did. Yeah, there were a lot of things that I went through that kids in the military don't have to go through today. Like I think I told you, contessa, that I'm a naturalized citizen, because at three years old I had to put my little hand up and I think my mother was the one that had to say the words and I somehow got through it. I don't know what I said to this day, but apparently it was good enough for me to be. Even though I was born to an American soldier, I was still considered not an American. And so people say, oh, you know these naturalized people. Be careful when you say that. You know these naturalized people. Be careful when you say that, because you might be talking about people who actually served in the military. And when you say that, and you didn't serve, and I did, I'm gonna come at you. I'm gonna say I'm sorry. What do you mean by that? You know, because I'm very proud of the fact that you know I was a military brat. I'm very proud of the fact that I served, in that. I'm a veteran. So be careful when you talk about naturalized citizens, because it is a real deal.
Speaker 1:I still have my natural naturalization papers, even though I don't need them anymore, but I keep it. But I think it's just important to remember, because a lot of people forget about Vietnam. It's all about, you know, iraq and Iran and everything. I totally get it, yes, but let's not forget anybody, let's not leave anybody behind, and I just think it's important. So let me ask you this, contessa. So let me ask you this, contessa you work on books and screenplays, correct, yes, ma'am? So how do you approach writing for these different mediums and do you have a preference for one over the other?
Speaker 2:People, people, you know what Growing up as a military brat created this writer in me. I'm sure I was born like this, but it created it because everything was an adventure. Everything was like a book, everything was like a movie. Going to like, I told you, going to these countries, like things that I would have never seen if I was a military child. I would have only been able to see on movies or in books. I got to see these vast lands right, and that is what created this right. That is what started that. Because all I had time to do was daydream. You take a flight to Germany. That's all you got time to do is sit there and daydream and think of things right.
Speaker 2:All of that watching different cultures. Going to our friend's house and it would be a totally different culture, right, and getting their food and speaking in different language. And I'm a people watcher and so I would sit there and just watch people and watch interactions of people, and so that's what built into who I am, so it's very easy for me to create a story. Plus, I love strangers.
Speaker 1:Yes, I do too. My, my husband bless his heart. I love him. He's more peopley now than he used to be, but I can walk in anywhere. So let me let me know anyone If you've heard, if you've had this scenario you're standing in maybe the deli meat counter line and the person in front of you says something. You say something, then we start laughing and then you start talking right, and I would leave and my husband says well, you didn't introduce me to your friend. And I go. What friend? He goes, the woman at the counter. I said I don't know her, we just started talking. And he goes how do you do that? Military brat baby.
Speaker 2:Military brat. That is our badge of honor, because what we are going to do is we're definitely going to speak to the strangers. We're going to find friends somewhere okay, whether somewhere yeah or I. I find the airports are the funnest places, because then you get to say oh, where are you from, oh?
Speaker 1:my goodness you know airports.
Speaker 2:um, even I travel abroad a lot and even when I travel abroad, I'm usually meeting somebody in the airport and I've got to know where are you from, and this, that the other, and so it creates these people that we are today. Right, most people think, oh, you're so quiet, I'm pretty quiet, but let me meet a stranger. Let me meet a stranger and I'm all in, I'm all in.
Speaker 2:I'm 10 toes down because strangers are so intriguing to me, and so I find that the more that I'm like that, the more that I carry that piece of me, that military brat in me, that little girl that had to be thrown into a whole nother place and meet these new people. It teaches me to continuously keep that going. And I find stories in people. People write their own stories actually. You know what I mean. Just listen, listen. And I encourage people. Listen to people sometime, ask them some questions yeah, listen.
Speaker 1:And I encourage people listen to people sometime, ask them some questions, yeah, and I think it's interesting that when people talk to veterans, they're like I don't know what to say and I'm like what would you say to a stranger? You know, if someone were, I'll take you, for instance, contessa, you're a writer, and we're in the airport and I see you writing, or whatever, and I'll say, wow, I might say, are you a writer? And you're like, yeah, and I start asking these questions. Why can't people ask those questions of veterans? Just be curious, and I think that being a military brat helped to set up being what's the word? That veterans are just very, you know, not sustainable. What's the word I'm looking for? I can't think of the word where we, you know, we get, we go through anything and everything and we come out on the other side, yeah our hair is a little messed up.
Speaker 1:We are very resilient. That's the thank you, contessa.
Speaker 2:That's the word I was looking for, and you know what the thing is. What I love about it is, even though I did not serve, you literally take on that, that soldier's energy. You take on their strategic, you take on their resilience, you take on their intelligence. You take, you take all of those pieces. It was your mother or your father, yes, take it on and they integrate that into us and we carry that with us and I, I sing. I never served, but I tell people all the time one thing I never served a day in the military, but one thing that my father did give me was strategy. He gave me intelligence, he gave me resilience. I mean, he gave me, he gave me all those things. Everything I look at, I look at from a military standpoint.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think one of the things to this day I can, so I grew up on military bases. I can go onto any base, any, it could be a Marine base, okay, and I'll. I'll be on that base Like, yeah, these are my people. Yes, yes, I feel so good on it. I'm like, yeah, the uniforms. It feels so familiar to me that I'm just like, okay, let's do this I feel at home. Yes, okay, let's do this. I feel, at home.
Speaker 2:Yes, I can remember when I became an adult and I was out on my own, we had moved to another city and I remember I just had a hard time meeting people. People couldn't place me anywhere.
Speaker 2:I don't have an accent, so they really placed me you know and they're like oh, and I happened to meet some ex-military people and, if I tell you, I felt, even though I didn't know where I was you know, I didn't know anybody in this town but the fact that they were military, you identified immediately like you bonded, almost immediately, I bonded immediately and he became my brother.
Speaker 2:He was only maybe seven years older than me, but the fact that he was ex-military he got me. He understood me. He got me the cooking started again, the laughing started again, the way I grew up, the stories, oh, my God, the stories when you been, where'd you go, where were you stationed?
Speaker 1:There's such a rich history. When I say history, I mean history of the military member. You know. So when people say I don't know what to say to a veteran, seriously, you know. Oh, how about? Oh, what branch are you in? Because you know civilians and, yes, I still call them civilians. Yes, yes, yes, yes, they don't know. Start there Just start there.
Speaker 2:We are so open. We're so open and we want to be open because that's what we're used to. Yes, we want to open up, we want to tell you the things, right, yeah, but it comes with a sense of you know, I miss it. I really do miss it. I talk all the time, me and my cousins, my military cousins, and aunts and uncles. I talk about it all the time. I've missed those times. Yeah, those times, absolutely, those were the best. I'm sorry, go ahead. Those were the best times of my life, military.
Speaker 1:When you look back. Yeah, you just, I mean, we were so we would just go to a base. It could be any country. And let me tell you this story real quick. So we had moved to Germany and we couldn't move on base right away, and we lived in this little town called Weilerbach, germany, okay, and we had rented this house that used to be a stable during world war two, yes, and so there was a little bridge that would go over to Luxembourg, okay, and we would just cross over and we'd have a little bit of, you know, coffee. And we'd trot back when my father found out and he gave us the what to and the wherefores. He's like you can't just waltz it to another country without a passport. I'm like we just went for coffee, we weren't doing anything, you know, but that's how we felt. We felt like, oh, we're here in Germany.
Speaker 1:We were very I don't want to say resilient, but we were adventurous. We're like let's go here, let's go find this. You know and I'll leave you with this last story before we end my brother and I were playing outside and we found this thing and it sounded tinny, it sounded metal, and we're kicking it and we're doing all this stuff and finally we're digging around it. We go, oh crap, it was unexploded ordnance from World War II, cat, my father had to call the base and they had to come out and get it. And we're like my father's, like you didn't touch it, did you? My brother like no, no, we just, you know, we noticed it. And we're like Holy crap.
Speaker 2:That's, that's those adventures.
Speaker 1:We're so adventurous. I love it. So, contessa, where can people find you? If they want to, I don't know, dish about the military, or maybe they want to, you know, talk about their screenplay. Or maybe you're looking for actors and actresses for your screenplay, not mentioning any names.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. They can come to my website at wwwimaginemecom, and it's spelled a little bit different, so it's i-m-a-j-e-n-m-e, and they can reach out to me there if they're interested. Any of these stories or the movie or what's happening. It's all about timing and execution. Again, that's what my my father taught me timing and execution.
Speaker 1:well, contessa, I'd like to invite you back to Sisters in Service. When we have a screenplay that's actually going to be on the screen, you can say we could do a watch party, we could do it. See, I'm already like planning anyway.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You're definitely a part of it already.
Speaker 1:Contessa, thank you so much for being here and taking the time during this holiday weekend and for anyone listening, if you're a military brat or you know of military brats, I would love for you to come on. It's the one part of the military that we don't get to chat about. You know, whether you were in the military or you decided not to go in the military, it doesn't matter. Let's just talk about being a military brat and how you felt about that, and we had such a great discussion today about being a military brat and how you felt about that, and we had such a great discussion today about being a military brat. It just brought back so many positive memories for me.
Speaker 1:And I'm sure it did for Contessa also. So, as usual, you're going to hear me say please stay safe, Take care of each other until next time and please remember it's never too late to start your impossible. Thank you.