Welcome back happy Friday.
Memorial Day, of course, is almost upon us,
and for many it's simply just a day off.
But there was really so much more
behind the meaning of the sacred day.
Now here to talk about that Memorial
Day and what it means to their
military family is the 2020 Coast
Guard military spouse of the year.
Abbie McCracken. Good morning,
thanks for being with us. The
2022 big winner here, Abby.
So congratulations to you,
let's start off by explaining.
Look the Friday before Memorial Day.
I think everyone can say.
It's Memorial Day weekend.
It's here, right?
It's Friday.
We've been looking forward
to this holiday weekend.
Remind Us Memorial Day, so important,
especially in this military town.
It's much different than Veteran's day.
We'll get into that.
But what does this holiday mean to you?
And tell us a little bit about
the Coast Guard military
spouse of the year honor.
Absolutely like you just said,
it's a complete honor.
I feel such a responsibility to make
sure that our Coast Guard spouses
are represented and Memorial Day
to my family and a lot of spouses
specifically means taking a pause,
taking a breath to remember those
who didn't get to come home.
Those who didn't get to take off the
uniform and hang it up and retire right.
And as a spouse specifically,
along with many other spouses,
this military lifestyle is crazy.
You move it.
Stressful, you have so much going on,
but as a spouse and spouse is specifically,
we really like to take the time to pause
and think about our Gold Star spouses,
right?
We honor our Members who fought
and gave the ultimate sacrifice.
But as spouses we really like to
pay tribute to those Gold Star
spouses who probably still wish
that they could be in the chaos
that they could be living through
the PC's and the stressful times.
So for me especially,
I really just like to take time and
think about those Gold Star spouses,
especially the ones that I have met.
And had a chance to talk to and just really,
you know,
take and pay tribute to them for the
sacrifices that they made as well.
And I mean, this is such an
honor to share with us how you
specifically became the 2020 Coast
Guard Military Scouts of the Year.
Where do some of those qualifications?
So it is a nomination based program.
A couple friends of mine nominated
me with for my work throughout
the community in San Diego,
specifically with military families,
and then it is some popular vote
base and then voting based with
panels with armed forces insurance.
They have a panel and they go
through letters of recommendation.
Your involvement in the Community,
your leadership skills,
and then ultimately they
vote on 7 branch winners.
Let's get into the misconceptions about
Memorial Day versus veteran's day,
because there is a big difference
and you started to touch on
it a little bit. There Abby.
This is to remember those who we have lost.
Correct, correct Memorial Day is a time
to sit and reflect on those military
members who didn't get to come home and
veteran's day another important holiday.
So special to our family and our communities.
But on veteran's day we celebrate
those members who did get to come
home and take off the uniform
and hang it up from retirement.
Or however you know,
they separated from the service.
So the distinct difference is
very important and I think that.
If you weren't aware of the difference,
that's OK.
It happens, you know,
but if you would take the time to
just research a little and understand
that there's a huge difference
between veteran's day Memorial
Day and even Armed Forces Day.
And Abby share with us what your
experience of and journey has been like.
Being a military spouse.
It's been an amazing experience.
The Coast Guard is a giant family.
I couldn't be more blessed
to be a Coast Guard spouse,
a Coast Guard employee, and it's been crazy.
You know, there are times when your
spouse isn't around and you kind of
got to figure things out on your own.
9 times out of 10 when they're deployed,
something goes wrong.
But then again,
this community that we get to
be a part of is next to none.
The people that I've met the
other seven branch winners that
I'm blessed to be in a group with
never in a million years did.
I think I'd be in a room
with such amazing people,
one family, that's for sure.
Hey, we want to give you
a big congratulations.
Abby, thanks for coming
on here and we wish you a
wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
Thank you you too.