Northwest Florida Daily News Article

A celebration amid separation Eglin hosts party for children and spouses of deployed airmen Andrew Gant Saturday December 15th, 2007 EGLIN AFB — Justin Ainsley was 7 months old when his mom left on a deployment. She worried about missing his first steps. “When I left, he was lying there like a baby,” says Senior Airman Karen Ainsley, a single mother who works on air crew flight equipment at Eglin. “And when I got back, he was walkin’ around.” But Ainsley says she set up a Web cam while she was gone — just trying to stay connected with her son as he grew from infant to toddler in the few months that comprise many deployments. Dozens of other families affected by deployments gathered inside Eglin’s west gate on Saturday — many of their husbands and wives overseas — to relax and celebrate Christmas. Some families were counting down the days until a parent came home; others were looking ahead at a January deployment, said Jiri Crowder, director of Eglin’s Airmen and Family Readiness Center. So volunteers turned out at the center — to help kids and their parents “get their minds off it all,” Crowder said — with messy arts and crafts, musical chairs, cookie decorating and sing-alongs. The song leaders didn’t know all the words to “Frosty the Snowman,” but none of the parents did, either. The children didn’t lodge any complaints. Eglin’s A&FRC implemented its family readiness program seven years ago and today has three staff members that help families of deployed airmen endure the wait. Before that, “they were on their own,” Crowder said. The staff used every avenue they could to advertise their Christmas party, including e-mail and Myspace.com, hoping to get families on-base for the event. Sam McMenamy and her 2-year-old son, Nolan, don’t know exactly when husband and dad Brian will come home from Qatar, but it will be after their first Christmas without him. Sam said she gets through his absence by leaning on “friends, family and just staying busy.” Nolan was too busy painting a napkin to comment. “We understand what they go through,” Crowder said. “It’s our job to get them through it.” Daily News Staff Writer Andrew Gant can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1432.