Not-So-Normal Mom

I have/had an old friend from the days when I was married to "the loser". We lived in El Paso(The armpit af America) and he was in the Army. I met a lot of Army wives, and you make friends quick when you have to (you never know when you will be transferred somewhere else). So, I was friends with a girl from West Virginia with two little boys, like me. She was pregnant with her third (a little girl) and we became very close. Half way through her pregnancy, her husband was shipped off to Iraq, and my ex and I were having a lot of problems(thus, the divorce). So, we spent a lot of time together. I was supposed to be in the delivery room when she had her baby, but ex and I split up, and I was leaving, and taking the boys to SD to live with my parents. Well, the day we were packing up my stuff, she called to say she was in labor. My parents and all my neighbors pitched in to pack up my house while I spent the day in the hosbital with her, while she delivered her daughter. I was with her through everything...the epidural, the crying, the pushing, I saw her little baby come into the world, and cried with her. I left the hospital, went home, and finished packing. The next morning, we left, and I never saw them again. We kept in touch through email, and exchanged pictures. Well, she has become a born again Christian and is a devout Republican. I have a lot of Republican friends! I respect everyone's right to their beliefs! Her husband is still in the Army, and he has been to Iraq, and thank God, has made it home safely. She OFTEN emails me emails promoting Bush and his views on the war. She also sends emails bashing the Iraqi people. It bothered me, so much so that I was erasing emails from her without reading them. So, I sent her an email...Here are the three emails sent back and forth....

My email to her:
(name), While I respect your right to your opinion, it is not mine. I love to get emails from you, and I would like to stay in touch. I also support our military 100%! I am a Navy brat, I live in a VERY big military city, and I cry for our soldiers that are fighting in Iraq. I pray for your husband when he goes over to fight. But I am a devout democrat that believes we are fighting a losing battle in Iraq. My husband's family is from New Jersey/New York/Penn, and we were worried about our loved ones during 9-11, but we do not believe that a tragedy should bring about even more tragedy. Terrorism is a horrible thing, and we should do our best to protect ourselves, but going around the world to fight someone we can't find and people we can't identify is a fruitless fight that only brings about sorrow and division in our own country.
I respect your opinions and beliefs, please respect mine. I'm not really interested in getting any more "I love Bush" emails from you. Thanks!
Oh, and since I've gotten so many from you, I thought I would include some of the comics I like...
http://evilorstupid.blogspot.com/
These are the political cartoons I like! I wish your family the best and I hope everything is going great for you up in Alaska! Send pictures, I've heard it’s beautiful. Make sure you take advantage of your time up there and get some traveling and sight-seeing in!
Take care, (my name)

(Her Response):
Wow, I don't hear from you in years and when I do this is what I get. I just forward what I get sent sorry you are so offended. I believe in what my husband does and I believe that if I or anyone else knew what the President knew and could do what the President does then I'd be President. I'm also not ignorant enough to think that all bad things that happen abroad are Bush's fault. He has a whole panel of adviser's that go in and do research so they can make the best decisions for our country. I honestly have no clue what your little nasty email was in regards to but I promise you can guarantee you won't get anything else from me. I respect your right to have your opinion as ignorant as I feel it may be. But as my friend you are out of line emailing me something out of the blue that is ugly. Again, I forward things that have been sent to me. I'm proud of my husband and what he does and if I get sent emails pro military I pass them on. Remember my husband and my family living with out when you and your new little family are bashing Bush and the military. He fights so people like you can have the right to shit talk. Lose my email! My husband and I have no desire to continue communication with you. I'm sorry you feel the need to get so upset over email forwards. Maybe if you said hey (name) I'm a democrat, I'd have known. Friends don't email friends out of the blew and verbally assault them. I really don't even know what email you are talking about. As for dividing the country, people like you are the culprit. Like it or not he is the ELECTED PRESIDENT for the next few years. The worst thing you can do is be against the government who is trying to keep you safe. People like you are the reason there is division. I never thought of you as such a rude person. Maybe you should take into consideration that not everyone is out to offend you! I wish you and your family the best. I'll add you all to my pray list. I'll pray that because of people like you encouraging terrorists with your anti-gov. crap, we won't be struck again. I'll also thank my husband every night for you that you have the right and ability to tuck you kids in safely every night!

(My final email):
After re-reading my email, and the one that you sent, I don't think that I said anything "ugly" that should have hurt you so much. As I said, I support your husband, and the military. I just don't think we should be fighting this war. I am sorry that you were offended, and felt the need to "erase" me. I have always thought very highly of your family. I was there when your daughter was born! I was not trying to be rude, it seems to me that you guys may be going through some things and your feelings are sitting on the surface of your skin. As far as my family sitting here while your family "goes without", you'll remember that I said my dad proudly served his country in the Navy for twenty years, there were plenty of times we went without. My husband and children don't go without now because we bust our asses. We run a small business, I go to college and work a part time job, all without daycare because our children come first. So don't try and make me feel sorry for you because we are doing well. It is a decision we made to put our family first and strive for a better life for them than we had. Like I said, I support our military, I DO NOT support our president. As far as our presidents advisers, he selected them, of course they are going to say he is right. We have two different viewpoints, (name), I am not a terrorist supporter as you so eloquently stated in your reply. There are democrats living all around you that do not support Bush, that doesn't mean we are opening the doors to terrorists. There are civilians, women and children living in Iraq, too. They are not all terrorists. I just refuse to turn on my back on people. I have my own opinion. If that infuriates you, I'm sorry. I don't think I deserved such an angry response from you. But if you feel the need to "erase" me and pray for me, feel free. We are living a good life, with freedoms that are awarded to us by men like your husband, and others who gave their lives for us. I pray that the rest of those men and women make it home safely. Honestly, take care. I think about you all often with nothing but happy memories. (my name)

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