When I was a sophomore in high school we beat Charlotte. It was a big effing deal. My school, Port Charlotte High School, was only 10 years old. Our rival across the Peace River was Charlotte High school and we had never beaten them in football. The game was won by a Hail Mary pass from Brian Cann to Chris Varisco. After more than 20 years, I still remember their names. I remember us all rushing the field a few seconds before the final buzzer only to be ushered back off so they could finish the game. We weren’t supposed to win. We sucked, it was expected that we would lose, again. But we didn’t. They pulled out the win (something that would not happen again until 2012) and we all celebrated. On Monday morning there was even a pep rally with a viewing of the highlight reel. We were one. The students, the players, the coaches, and the fans. And it was awesome. For as long as I live I don’t think I’ll ever forget those moments.

Moments like that are what drew me to the theatre. Sometimes, not every time, but in some special moments the audience and the cast connect in a meaningful way. As an actor and stage manager I’ve experienced it a few times and the result is truly amazing. The audience laughs, cheers, or weeps along with you. I experienced it the most during a production of To Kill A Mockingbird at Purdue University. Everyone in the audience knew the book. Many had seen the movie. But to see them react with the actors to Atticus Finch saying, “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do” was deeply emotional. You couldn’t deny the connection everyone in that room had. Together. As one.

This weekend I watched Florida Gulf Coast University make history be being the first 15 seed team to make it to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen. A school that admitted its first student in 1997, and graduated this blogger in 2002. I was lucky enough to get that amazing, David versus Goliath feeling again this weekend when my Alma Mater smashed this new record. As we watched them play we could feel it, everyone was on their side. Everyone was an FGCU believer. We were in it together. As one.

Because seriously, how can you not love these underdogs…

It all comes back to this blog. I’ve stepped back from it a little lately. Sometimes I write things and I really feel a connection with all of you, like we’re all in the same boat together. But lately, I haven’t felt that way. I’ve been struggling to find the right words and then disappointed because I haven’t found the right ones. Last week I thought I was done blogging, forever. Because you know what happens if I don’t blog?

Nothing.

But then I saw this quote,  “In my opinion, and this is just an opinion, art exists to be shared…so share it. I don’t know what you’re worried about protecting it from, but it’s absolutely certain that /nothing/ will happen to it, good or bad, if it’s not shared.” – Hank Green

I’m not sure what I’m doing here is art. But I know I want to continue to share with all of you. To make you laugh or to make you think or so that you can cry with me. I don’t know how often I will blog anymore, because I don’t want to write just because it’s expected. I want to write so that we can all share a moment together. As one. If you’re willing to stick with me, I thank you.

The sequestration is a non-answer from our leaders. Rather than coming together to solve our debt problems they’ve taken this cowardly route. There are a lot of ways the sequestration affects Americans from air traffic controllers to education to public services, these cuts run deep. Those of us in the military community are already beginning to see just how much the cuts will affect our day-to-day life. That is because the first cuts come to services. They always cut our services first.

I’m not sure civilians understand how much military families depend on these services. Some DOD schools will be required to cut teacher hours. Since they cannot reduce the number of days students can attend school, teachers will be forced to double up on classes. They could work four days per week while another teacher takes over their class on the fifth day. That also means that teachers will have to cover a class one of the four days they are working. For military children this means two of the five days they attend school they will be mixed with another class. You cannot tell me this won’t negatively impact the education of our military children.

Military kids do not choose this life. We choose it for them, along with all of the sacrifices it requires. Most children have a sense of pride and contribution for these sacrifices. But that does not mean it is without hardship. My husband joined the Army when our older children were in the 3rd grade. They’re in the 10th grade now and we have moved three times. We will move again next year and possibly once more before they graduate high school. My younger children started kindergarten this year, they will start first grade at another school, and possibly second grade at yet another. My children are a representation of all military children, by some standards they’ve even had it easy. To take those children, who have already had their education disrupted multiple times and further disrupt it is cruel.

There is a lot of conjecture about other cuts. I heard this weekend that the Child Development Centers on Military Bases are next in line. If the Department of Defense has to furlough 800,000 employees, I would not be surprised if the CDC’s felt it too. As a parent this is extremely upsetting to me. Yes, there are plenty of off-post childcare centers available, but those centers do not understand the unique needs of military families. Their staffs are not experienced in dealing with children who move regularly, who have at least one parent absent for long periods of time, and most importantly they are not filled with children who make my kids feel normal. Last year Reese and Jackson were enrolled in the on-post preschool program. Most of the students in the class had at least one parent deployed. Their little cubbies were decorated with pictures of the deployed parent for when they got sad and there was a desk set up with paper, pencils, and envelopes so they could write letters whenever they felt the need. Jackson’s best friend Chandon was in his class. Chandon’s Dad had deployed at the same time as my husband, the boys were battle buddies. Chandon’s Mom, Megan, is one of my best friends and most trusted battle buddy too. While my husband was home on R & R Chandon asked if Jackson could come play after school. Jackson told him he couldn’t because his Dad was home. Chandon yelled, “Your Dad’s home?! I didn’t know your Dad was home!!” Then he threw his arms around him and the boys hugged for a long time. Even at 5-years-old those children understood and needed each other. Sending them to an off-post preschool would have robbed them of that experience and emotional connection. All of our military children deserve that same opportunity.

The military services that are being cut are the services that build these relationships. They are what our families depend on to get through all of the dark times. For most Americans, the war in Afghanistan is winding down. But for us, it’s not even close to over. For some, it might never be completely over. Last year the military reported record high suicide rates, for the first time more suicides than combat deaths. This is not a time to increase the stress on military families.

Regardless of your politics or how you feel about the war, remember that our military serves on behalf of the American people. Whether you like what they do or not, they do it because they were directed to by a government we elected. This country could not survive without a standing military and it is naive to think otherwise. Men and women who choose to do this job and the families who stand behind them deserve better than these budget cuts. There are plenty of other places, places that make sense, to make cuts in military spending. I voted for this president twice. I also voted for my Republican senator Lisa Murkowski in large part because she said she cared about military families. When she ran for re-election she met with military spouses, she looked me in the eye and said she needed to know what would help those of us in the trenches and what we needed. Now she has done nothing but further the burden on us. I am going to write her and ask that she try to make it stop. I hope that you too will write your representatives, on behalf of the military families who have sacrificed so much for you, and also ask to make this nonsense stop.