Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Rubin Tan | Children play as their mothers attend a Hearts Apart meeting at the Marine Corps...... read more read more
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BEAUFORT, S.C. - A sense of uneasiness can be present in some spouses as their Marines deploy, but Marine Corps Community Services helps spouses cope with deployment through Hearts Apart meetings, held every Friday.
The weekly gathering takes place in the Marine Corps Family Team Building House on Laurel Bay.
“This is my first time attending and it is really nice to know other spouses are in the same situation as me and it gives me something to do on Fridays,” said Lauren Hass, a spouse of a deployed Marine and native of Woodhaven, Mich.
Plenty of seating was available Friday for spouses as they sat together, Sept. 23, with guest speaker Rick Musil, an American Red Cross volunteer.
Musil had lots of valuable advice and information such as what spouses should do in the event of a natural disaster.
Spouses also learned about how the American Red Cross helps keep families informed on the status of their service member. Contact numbers were also given for family emergencies.
“Hearts Apart provides spouses with a lot of information from employment to the many programs available for information such as Military OneSource,” said Janice Palmer, a Marine Corps Community Service readiness and development support trainer.
Upcoming events were announced during the meeting to give spouses the opportunity to get more involved with the community or to simply spend time outside of the house.
The first hour of the meeting focuses on the guest speaker and available resources, while the second hour offers the spouses an opportunity to talk with each other about the trials of being a deployed spouse.
“The second hour of Hearts Apart is a bonding moment because spouses get the opportunity to speak to others in the same situation as them and many of them exchange emails and numbers,” said Palmer, a native of Islip, N.Y.
Childcare providers are available at the house so spouses who attend the meetings can do so in a stress-free environment.
“[Hearts Apart] helps me be with adults where we can talk about anything and allows us to spend time away from our children,” said Adriana Bradley, a spouse of a deployed Marine with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115 and a native of Houston.
Hearts Apart is held every Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. For more information contact Nicole Bright-Hardee, the groups’ representative, at 228-7290.
| Date Taken: | 09.29.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.29.2011 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 77781 |
| Location: | BEAUFORT, SC, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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