When Sacrifice Calls Lesley Lykins

Sacrifice is made by so many in such different capacities. In this episode of "When Sacrifice Calls" host Lesley Lykins shifts the focus from Military Reservists and National Guardsmen to America's Healthcare Workers and the sacrifices made to bring medications to market.
.     Lesley reflects on the COVID-19 vaccination and the many sacrifices she has observed while working at a hospital this year. She speaks with special guest, Christa Bigham, RPhPharmDMSCS, a senior pharmacy director about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccination.
Finally, she weaves in her family's 2020 miracle and how it came from the sacrifices of many others.
 
Special Show Notes:
My 5 Key Lessons from 2020 by Bruce Temkin

Growing up as an inner-city girl in Denver, Colorado, she knew she loved STEM and wanted to be an engineer. The military academies weren't an option presented in her district, yet she found her way in front of an interview panel seeking a congressional nomination to the U.S. Air Force Academy. She received nominations to all of the academies and ended up at the U.S. Navy Academy.
U.S. Navy Reserve Cmdr. Kimberly Martinez holds a very demanding role in the Navy Reserve as part of the Coastal Riverine community alongside her civilian engineering role with Raytheon. She just returned from a deployment in February and is currently on separate reserve orders as an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy, where her career first started. 
She is both an example and a witness to the talent, perseverance, creativity, and aptitude of the servicemembers serving our country in the military reserve.

How does it feel to sit down to the first Thanksgiving you and your husband and children have shared together in three years? The Cunningham family is grateful. Navy Reserve Lt. Jennifer Cunningham left for a deployment to Djibouti just two days after her husband retired from active-duty service. 
Her deployment was extended as COVID-19 pandemic protocols were put in place. When Jennifer finally made it home to her family after 14 months, she came home not only to changes in her daughters and husband but to the entire world around her that no longer felt familiar.
During this episode host Lesley Lykins and Lt. Jennifer Cunningham discuss gratitude and resilience.

When you are 10-years-old and your mom is leaving for a war zone, your world is shaken. Statistics show that since 2001, approximately 2 million children have had to live through the deployment of a military parent.* One-third of these children will experience anxious behavior, increased worry, and tears. 
In this episode of "When Sacrifice Calls" hear straight from children that sacrificed the better part of a year with their mom when she left for a 9-month deployment to Afghanistan. 
These children express the challenge of understanding time when adults are trying to explain how long a parent will be gone. They share how seeing their mom in uniform now brings back the worry and sacrifice. And they describe what helped them through a period of time that has developed their resilience and bonded them together like nothing before.
Join Lesley Lykins as she interviews her own children in this week's episode of "When Sacrifice Calls."
 
*AASA (The School Superintendents Association) - Fact Sheet on the Military Child

Do you think you know where your life is heading? Perhaps you feel comfortable in a consistent and stable place. You've worked your way to a certain point in your career, married the woman of your dreams, and feel confident and successful. 
Then you deploy. 
As a military Reservist, the effects of deployment can as Navy Reserve Lt. Cmdr. Roger Reinert's so aptly puts it "blow up (your) identity." 
On this Veterans Day, host Lesley Lykins speaks with Roger about the sacrifice of one's identity as a result of military service. This incredibly painful sacrifice is one so many military service members struggle with, often in silence. 

She knows sacrifice. Sacrifice for my guest today has varied throughout her life. She experienced the sacrifices of a challenging deployment to Afghanistan. Then the sacrifices made as a young mother and military spouse.
Today, U.S. Air Force veteran, Captain Amanda Huffman spends her time gathering and sharing the stories of countless military women. She is a storyteller giving back to others from a heart of gratitude.
During this episode, Amanda shares the values she holds dear and how those values have shaped her life, family, and career.
 
For more from Amanda Huffman please see:
Blog:   Airman to Mom
Book:  Women of the Military
Podcast:  Women of the Military