"Daddy's Saving the WORLD?!?"
   by Sarina H

“Where’d daddy go?" Kyle asks in his cheery morning voice. It’s 0630. I try to pat down Kyle’s messy blonde hair, and say what I say most mornings, "Daddy has to fly today." Kyle is three. He was born in Del Rio, Texas- somewhere I never imagined I would live. Three years later, I find myself pregnant again. This time, we’re in England, where Kyle stands in our dimly-lit British living room. Suddenly, his eyes get big. "Daddy's saving the WORLD, mommy?!" Kyle exclaims, to my surprise. I laugh out loud. My first reaction is to correct him. "No, daddy's not…" I stop short. I don’t want his smile to disappear if I tell him that his dad is not, in fact, Spiderman’s equal.

Then, I think for a second that maybe he’s right.

As Kyle scurries off to eat his peanut butter toast, I sit on the couch and think about it. For the very first time, it hits me like a ton of bricks: daddy is out saving the world. While every mission doesn’t involve hunting down terrorists or dropping bombs, each mission is equally important to the support of the overall goals of the Air Force. This morning, I realize that not only my husband, but everyone else's military husbands, wives, mothers, fathers and friends, are real-life superheroes. Kyle is right. Our Air Force is filled with every-day dads and moms who are "saving the world" one mission at a time. It’s a mission that even a three-year-old understands, and one that anyone would be proud of.