Posted on 04/23/2010 5:16:57 PM PDT by SandRat
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky., April 23, 2010 Chelsea Jarvis prefers to stay busy, rather than focus on her military fathers frequent absences.
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Shes hard-pressed to remember how many times her father has deployed, but guesses its more than 10.
I never remember it being a big deal, said Chelsea, a 17-year-old junior who attends Fort Campbell High School here. Its his job; Im not going to get emotional about it, because it puts food on the table. Im not going to say I dont care, but its just something you have to get used to.
Chelsea said shes used to the military lifestyle; her father joined the Army before she was born and she has always lived on a post. She has moved four times, and her family has been stationed at Fort Campbell for eight years, so far.
Chelsea knows that her fathers job is dangerous, but rather than dwell on the negative, she instead chooses to stay busy. Shes a member of the volleyball team, manages the wrestling team and is heavily involved in academic clubs. Shes also grateful to be living and attending school on post, where shes buoyed by the support of understanding peers and teachers.
If I always focus on what could happen, than you cant go on with life, she said. I focus on what Im doing here.
She not only pitches in at school, she steps up at home.
Chelsea often helps her mother, Catherine Jarvis, with her special-needs brother, Jacob. Jacob has hydrocephalus, which causes fluid in the brain. At age 13, he already has undergone seven brain surgeries and is unable to talk.
Chelsea assists with everything at home, from changing to bathing to watching her brother. My mother cant do it by herself, she said. Im there to help. Its just something we do.
Her fathers work has inspired her to join the Army and her brother has inspired her to pursue medicine. She hopes to become an Army trauma surgeon or a neurosurgeon.
The military has given her family a good life, she said, and shes appreciative of that, despite the frequent separations from her father.
When hes home, he makes time for me and that means a lot, she said. Im proud of him and his job. What he does is really hard.
Great kid! Thanks for posting.
What a pretty young lady. Pretty on the inside and out.
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