Off to War Read Free

you’ll just make it harder for yourself because you’ll be so worried you could actually make yourself sick. Find someone you can trust if you need to talk to someone, like your mom, or your pastor, or a friend, or a school guidance counselor. Find some way to relieve your stress. You have your own life to live.

Jordan, 14
    Jordan lives on the Canadian Forces Base in Trenton, Ontario. CFB Trenton was opened in 1931 as a base for the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is still primarily an air base, where giant cargo planes take off for war zones, and where soldiers killed in battle first land when they return to Canada.
    All three of Jordan’s parents are in the military. He lives with his mother, a corporal, and his stepfather, who is a master corporal. His father is at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick.
    My dad and stepdad have been in the military as long as I’ve known them. My stepfather teaches the new people how to be in the army. He gives a lot of lectures. My mom joined when I was seven. She’s an airplane mechanic.
    My dad just came back from Afghanistan, I think. I don’t see him very often. He came to visit us before he left for Afghanistan. I don’t really know why Canada is there.
    I have one older brother. He’s seventeen and he really likes to beat me up. He’s joking when he does it, though. My stepbrother is eleven or twelve. He lives in Greenwood with his mom. My folks got divorced when I was seven.
    I’m pretty used to my parents being in the military. It’s weird seeing so many uniforms at one time, though. Every year there’s a family get-together at the base. Anyone in the military can bring their family into their work area, which is usually not allowed. They tell their kids what they do, and then there’s a barbecue and games. I saw the place where my mother repairs the Hercules transport planes.
    The good thing about being a military kid is that it’s a little more organized around the house. There’s less stuff to worry about, less clutter. Before my mom joined there was hair all over the place because she was a barber. Now the house is cleaner.
    My mom and stepdad were both overseas, I think in Afghanistan. My stepdad was there long before the war, so it may not have been Afghanistan. My mother was over in United Arab Emirates a couple of years ago. I hope they don’t get hurt when they go overseas. I get kind of worried about them. I don’t watch the news, but my stepdad turns it on a lot, so I hear what’s going on.
    Before they go overseas they tell us they’re going and we can state any problems that we think about. We can ask them questions, like why they have to go. Mom said she had to go repair planes so they could fly to Afghanistan with supplies. Dad said he was there to help out.
    Mom called every few weeks while she was away. Our step-father stayed home with us. There were a lot more bruises when Mom was gone because he and my brother like to UFC a little too much. UFC is Ultimate Fighting Championship. When Mom’s home, she makes them settle down.
    We eat more pizza when Mom’s away, too. She was gone foraround six months. We didn’t get any free haircuts while she was gone! It also got kind of boring around the house because we had to do more chores. When Mom’s around, she does a few chores and I do a few chores, but when she’s not here, I have to do her chores as well.
    My favorite things are video games — fighting games where you get to blow stuff up. They’re fun. I like going to the pool and jumping on the trampoline. Throws don’t hurt so much on the trampoline. My brother throws me all the time when he’s playing at WWE — that’s World Wrestling Entertainment. He’s the biggest one in the family. Everyone else is tiny.
    I’ve got a lot of friends and I like to hang out with them. We usually just go around in our little community. There’s a park across