Initial viewings and progress

Last night (Sunday) we interviewed a family of a Guard soldier who is getting ready to deploy a second time. I am very happy with the video we obtained of the soldier, his wife, his thirteen-year-old son, and his wife's best friend. I also interviewed (actually stood back and let them talk) the husband and wife together. I am very appreciative of the family's hospitality and openness.

Got back into Manhattan about 12:40 am.

The seven-minute segment that I showed a week ago for Bowling Green State University students and faculty after I presented a keynote address at their early childhood conference was very well received. Many great comments and encouragement. This preliminary video focuses on the attachment and love children have for their Guard or Reserve parents. We have great video of youth describing their struggle to cope with the parent's deployment. The strength of this bond is then revealed even more powerfully in the homecoming we captured.

This part of our documentary really captured my heart and in some ways even blinded me to one of our critical goals: the need for community support. Plus, this first attempt is too long. Faculty and students didn't complain, but shorter can be better. So we have decided not to focus on a brief preview at the moment. Instead, as we continue to tape we will be assembling a five-minute appeal to potential funders.

In addition to the video, I want to develop a packet of brief descriptions of the documentary and it's purpose in a larger call to action for increasing the amount and effectiveness of informal community support.

As you can imagine, our ambition to reach a national audience is challenging. We have to find underwriters to support the broadcast, to help us obtain the services of a respected national figure (James Earl Jones would be great as would Tom Hanks or Denzel Washington), and to support the website.

Listening to these great families share their lives makes every moment working on this documentary worth the investment.