Hello,
As a naval officer, my husband’s absence was a frequent expectation. The longest deployment was 13 months, another was around 10 months. These absences were expected for me as his spouse. I knew when I met him that he was committed to serve this nation to the best of his ability.
Those long deployments were less understandable for our children. For a ten-year-old, dad being gone from one summer to the next constituted a really long time – the first set of braces, Dad’s Day at school, a family’s worth of holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries…missing him in the photos.
It was always a joyous occasion when he returned from deployment. Often we’d want to surprise the kids, which led to a trove of heartfelt memories, some really precious. Once when Michael got home in the middle of the night, our toddler daughter exclaimed, “Mommy! Who is that sleeping in your bedroom?” For a toddler, 8 months is a near-lifetime.
I have no regrets being a military spouse, because our life was full of adventure to keep it fun, adversity to make us strong, and an acknowledgement that duty was served. Michael never complained, although I could see in his eyes how much he regretted the lost years that pictures will never fully capture. He tears up over not having been home to see either child take their first step.
Michael is now the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate against Chuck Grassley in Iowa. In taking this challenge on, he knows the commitment it’ll entail. But a commitment to service is what’s necessary for him to feel complete, to be the person he is. You see, he isn’t doing this because he wants to endure a nasty political campaign… he is running because he sees a duty to his fellow Iowans and this nation. He sees working in the Senate as a continuation of his many decades of service. Speak with him and you will quickly understand what drives him, where his heart is, and how well he relates with those struggling to make ends meet. In short, he gets it.
Of course, Chuck Grassley, Mitch McConnell, and their Super PACs are already starting to tell ridiculous, laughable lies about my husband. In one ad, they labeled Michael, a retired Vice Admiral, a radical socialist. Really? Good luck with that!
Michael doesn’t come from a political dynasty. No one in his family has ever been in politics. Like him, they are regular people, gifted with incredible work ethic and grounded in Iowa values.
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This is going to be a phenomenal next 85 days as the Super PACs smear nonsense on every television across the state about my husband, 24/7. I’m so grateful for anything you can do to help Michael fight back. Iowa and this nation need him.
From our family to yours, thank you.
Jordan Franken