Cause Intro 1

We all are responsible for our choices, though sometimes we blame others. But sometimes others influence our decisions by their own desires. Many years ago, my husband served in the military, first for four years in the US Navy and then for 15 years in the US Army. Somewhere in the middle of his Army career, he hurt his back. He was a paratrouper attached to the 82nd Airborne unit, which didn't help him physically. Because he was one of the first on the ground in a conflict, he carried his equipment with him on his back. Radio equipment, weighing an average of 120 pounds. You get the picture; the impact on landing was many pounds more. Towards the end of his career, the physical strain became too much and he was medically discharged. At the time, I was pregnant with our fifth child and worried about what would become of our family. I expressed this concern to my mother in a telephone conversation before he was released and also told her that Steve wanted to go to Arizona to live. He had been stationed there previously for temporary training. My mother broached the subject of our family living with her and my father in the big, old house given to them by my deceased grandfather. And that's where our troubles began.