Life Advice

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Ask Amy: Veteran responds to ‘thank you for your service’

Amy Dickinson, Tribune Content Agency on

Dear Veteran: Anyone who is aware of the national dynamic during the tumultuous Vietnam era could completely understand your reaction to this phrase.

One resource for veterans is The Road Home Program at Rush University Medical Center. They provide “mental health care and wellness to veterans of all eras, service members and their families, at no cost and regardless of discharge status.” Check roadhomeprogram.org, or call (312) 942-8387.

Dear Amy: I identified with “Not Meant to be a Mother,” the woman who was grieving the loss of opportunity to conceive after surgery.

I had a radical hysterectomy at age 38. We already had three children and had not planned on more, yet I grieved before and after.

Finally, I talked to my pastor, who had trained in hospital chaplaincy.

His immediate response was, "Why, of course, you're grieving. You're losing a part of yourself.” Suddenly, the burden I'd borne was elevated.

 

All I needed was validation.

– Relieved

Dear Relieved: Many people echoed this woman’s grief. Thank you all.

Dear Amy: After reading many letters in your column about a DNA test that uncovered an unknown sibling, a light went on for me.

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