by Michael Ritter

In 1972, there were 371,366 dependents of military personnel living overseas, people who spent their childhoods in a world that stops promptly at 5:00 in the afternoon to pay homage to the flag; where everything is painted in shades of green, and hometowns are places that only exist on television. The Brat Chronicles reflects the experiences of these thousands of Americans who fought the good fight, not on the field of battle, but in living rooms of military housing around the world. 'We live in a world that tells us how we should act, think, love; and, driven by an overwhelming need to be accepted, we all too often lose that which is most precious to each of us... our souls. We follow others' leads, we conform, we do the 'right thing' and smile through the sadness that screams from our spirit, as we try to please those around us. Like Cinderella's evil stepsisters, we try to turn that special shoe that was made just for us, into one size fits all. And while many of us manage to squeeze our foot into someone else's shoe, the pain eventually causes us to limp through life, never taking the opportunity to realize how special each of us is. God intended for each of us to be individuals, to follow our own paths, to run joyfully through life, experiencing the wonder of the world while wearing our own shoes... or better yet, without any shoes at all.' - The Brat Chronicles