I can honestly say, I was a typical teenager growing up in the ease of the 70's. Donny Osmond posters plastered my bedroom walls, and I couldn't imagine a worry more than dating. My parents always felt that kids needed to be kids as long as possible. But somehow that gave me a innocence that still today, can be a draw back. I was bred about as clean cut and a good Catholic girl as one could be, and still stand pretty firm on those set values and morals. It was not until I married a Army Sgt. in 1981, that I really lived away from home, and saw that life can sometimes be quite difficult. Marriage and Motherhood at a early age is tough, and the challenges of being married to a Army Combat Engineer were great. It was in 1985, while he handled his tour as a Drill Sergeant that I really found my inspiration for writing and for really having personal growth. I wrote over the years, as a kid, as a teenager. But this writing would be different and it would change me as a human being. The inspiration I found during those years as his wife, seeing what the troops endured during training, knowing the sacrifices, the loss and the price they pay for being the best they could be, that was a sobering experience having known first hand, from the eyes of a man who helped train them.
A Soldier's Call lives with in me, as it reaches the pages, I can feel what the soldier's must feel in battle. It's a book that has not yet been concluded, but will be soon. And I can only hope it will make a difference and help people understand how important a soldier's work it for not just our country and others, but for humanity. How we would not be who we are without their sacrifices.
I had the pleasure of meeting a Two star General when I was living in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 1984. He was a wonderful man, and it was a honor to have the opportunity to sit down with him and talk about my work and how important it was to support the troops. Lt. General T.G. Jenes I will never forget. The original poem of A Soldier's Call had been published in a Fort Carson newspaper and he had requested to meet the author. I can't tell you what a humbling experience it was for me to meet a man who commanded a base and went on to command a much higher station in his career. He asked me to promise that I would continue to write, continue to say the words that I needed to say, the words that the soldier's needed to inspire them. And I have kept that promise, and always will.
Being a mother is the most important and special job I have ever had. I divorced in 1991, kept my married name Kinsella and added my maiden name Harmon. Seemed to make it easier for the Army with my kids. I think sometimes people just grow apart. I survived the divorce and we remain friends today. I believe strongly in marriage and would certainly like to remarry someday, when it's right. I believe in fate! Being a single parent, it also held many challenges, but I managed through all the scraped knees and broken hearts and small disasters and a few years of pure chaos. My daughter is happily married and my son is now on his own also, doing fine and both seem to have some good sense! I am the grandmother of one grandson and a step grandmother of Two other grandsons and a precious Grand daughter. I feel so blessed! I've known so many people through the last several years that have taught me about the world and that it's ok not to be perfectly alligned all of the time. I know the success is not weighed by every large accomplishment in life, but by all the little ones that matter to you as a person. That you don't have to be wealthy or live in a mansion to be successful. If you have dreams and goals and love, I think you have so much. I still want my house in the country with my horses and cattle and a pond. And all of that will come to be, when it is time. No matter what obstacles I have faced, I always have faith....
I love my weiner Dog Frappichino that my son Joey gave me, and I love my children and their children. I have so many good people in my life and I am inspired by the simple things like the stars and the Ocean. I want to make a difference, and by writing, I feel I can make a difference or just have a way of saying Thanks to the Troops. And a small Thanks for making this country and others so much more secure and Free. Because we can never forget! And we should always be grateful.
My life has often been refered to be much like a episode of I Love Lucy, but when I sit down and write, there are no small disasters following me around, there are no naive country girl antics, just a world that I still am not sure I fully understand. But with each word and character, I am able to have a closer look into their world, the world of a soldier. I feel like I am so privilaged to be able to feel so inspired. In a ordinary life, I can peek into a imagination that seems so clear and watch before me emotions and people in a world I could never imagine knowing otherwise. And for that I feel so blessed........
My greatest achievement in life is my family. I can't imagine not having the experience of raising my children and the countless things I have learned from them, and are still learning. I've traveled to a few states and had the opportunity to know so many different people, and my children have always been troopers, through everything.
They have so much strength and they never fail to amaze me with their wonder!
