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It was a frigid day in January on a quiet hill-side cemetery just
north of New Market, Iowa. Surrounded by friends and family, we bid
farewell to my grandmother. As we departed on those dusty gravel
roads, I remembered my childhood and how she’d had such a profound
impact on my life.
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March 22, 2017 - U.S. Air Force Maj. Marnee A.C. Losurdo,
403rd Wing Public Affairs chief at Keesler Air Force Base,
Mississippi holds photographs of her
grandmother and grandfather with family members. (U.S. Air Force
photo by Staff Sgt. Heather Heiney)
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When I’d arrived two days before her funeral, my aunts,
uncle and mom asked me to gather their memories and draft a
memorial to read at her funeral. As a public affairs officer
in the Air Force Reserve, part of my job is to tell stories.
The only difference this time was that it was my
grandmother’s story, and I was part of it.
Writing that memorial was an emotional, thought-provoking
journey. After interviewing my uncle and mother and reading
over the memories my aunts had emailed to me, I spent an
afternoon hunched over my laptop in my parent’s living room
weaving all the words together. The task left me thankful
for not only my grandmother, but all the positive role
models in my life. Since the funeral, I’ve been reminiscing
about my grandmother and all the women who have influenced
me; even more so now that March is Women’s History Month.
Throughout history, women have played a significant role
in building America into the nation it is. While some of
those women’s contributions are well remembered, many are
not. We may forget their names, but we can see the results
of their efforts in the lives we live today. They played
their part through the contributions they made settling this
nation, performing their jobs, raising their families, and
helping their communities.
My grandmother was one of
those women. Her life wasn’t easy but she made it good. She
lost her mother at 11, taking on many responsibilities most
of us don’t have to worry about at such a young age. As a
young wife and mother she and my grandfather bought a small
farm with an abandoned house north of New Market, renovated
it themselves, and raised their family there.
By the
time I came into the picture, my grandmother was an eclectic
expert at many things to include refinishing woodwork,
reupholstering furniture, sewing, knitting, crocheting,
gardening, canning and farming. She was also a self-taught
oil painter whose artwork is on display throughout our
community. She did all this while employed as a cook at the
local high-school and later as the head cook at the local
state prison until she retired.
Looking back at my
life, the times I spent with my grandmother and grandfather
were magical moments. My cousins and I would sleep over and
she would read us fables, we’d wake up the next morning and
spend the day “helping” on the farm. In the late afternoon
we’d make homemade ice cream, enjoying the product of our
hard work while watching the sun set from their wrap-around
porch.
As I got older, my grandmother would
occasionally help me with school and 4-H projects, which
ranged from sewing an outfit to helping me raise a steer for
the county fair. Growing up, my mother always encouraged me
to get a college education, which would provide me more
opportunities to advance in my chosen career. However, my
grandmother taught me a person doesn’t necessarily have to
have a college degree to be educated. By watching her I
discovered you can learn a lot from reading a book, seeking
out information from an expert, and practicing a skill until
you master the craft.
My grandmother and family had a
profound impact on me during my youth, but my peers did
also. I was influenced by the women from my community who
told me about their Air Force experiences, which is what I
based my decision on when I enlisted in 1997.
I’ve
been in 20 years now and throughout my life and career I’ve
met inspiring women who have taught me many things about my
job, supervision and leadership. I’ve written some of those
women’s stories. I wrote one such story when I deployed in
2001 to Eskan Village Air Force Base, Saudi Arabia, in
support of Operation Southern Watch. As part of Women’s
History Month, I interviewed then Maj. Martha McSally, an
A-10 Thunderbolt II pilot who was the first woman to fly in
combat in Iraq. She is an Air Force Academy graduate who
earned a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard, and
in 2001 was one of the Air Force’s highest ranking female
fighter pilots. I left the interview thinking, “what an
amazing, accomplished and courageous person.”
Today
it’s no different, I currently work in the Air Force
Reserve’s 403rd Wing with women who are C-130J pilots who
fly tactical airlift and WC-130J pilots and meteorologists
who fly into hurricanes to gather critical weather data that
improves forecasts. There many outstanding professionals
I’ve met who perform various jobs ranging from maintainers
to medical technicians who support these missions daily.
Although most of us won’t accomplish feats such as being
the first woman to fly into combat, we can all make a
difference every day. We do it through the tasks we perform
in support of our families, communities and jobs. As Airmen
we play a role in accomplishing the mission and contributing
to the greatest Air Force the world has ever known.
On that cold winter day in January, my grandmother
reinforced one final life lesson: It’s how we live our life,
respond to trials, treat others, and perform day-to-day
tasks that can lead to an extraordinary life.
By U.S. Air Force Maj. Marnee Losurdo
Provided
through DVIDS
Copyright 2017
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