Queen B@$#H

I'm feeling selfish today, so don't expect this to be heartwarming. It's a rant, pure and simple and to avoid unleashing it somewhere inappropriate, say at work or at a sorority meeting. I'm doing it here.

We're at war. Not in a struggling within ourselves or an "it's us against da white man" sort of way. In a tanks and M-16's type of way. Or in a "keep your head down" type of way. And for some of us, that reality is way closer than what you might see on CNN or in the newspaper. Some of us read the identification deaths, because we really might know someone in there. And I don't mean somebody like my cousin's baby mama's auntie on her daddy's side. Somebody who lives in your house: Your mother, father, brother, sister, husband or wife.

And it's not just going to war. It's training for war. They don't just go out there all willy nilly (Ok, I just wanted to use that phrase. You gotta problem with that?) They train. For months. And they don't get to come home for dinner. Sometimes, they don't get to come home at all - for months. And after training, they have to put it all to use right? So there's another year gone.

So forgive us if we seem a little on edge at times while you're telling us about that new pair of pantyhose you just bought (Brown sugar, on sale at Wal-mart!) or if we seem to have a problem that seems to you easily solved.

We got ish on our minds. And even if we never talk about it, it's there. So show some consideration - we just want our child, parents, spouse to come home.