Retired Army Maj. Gen. Bruce Scott, left, and his wife, Mary. All six of the Scott children are in the military. The family is featured in an American Forces Press Service Web special, Family Tradition. DoD photo by Elaine Wilson
By Elaine Wilson, AFPS
elaine.wilson@dma.mil
Jan. 26, 2010
My kids are young, but I still often think about their future. I correct them, try to lead by example and hope that by doing so, I’m steering them on the right path toward a healthy and successful adult life.
For a helping hand, I often look to other moms who have a good track record in the parenting department. And, a few months ago, I found my inspiration: Mary Scott.
Mary is a mother of six and the wife of retired Army Maj. Gen. Bruce Scott. Over the course of the general’s 30-year military career, the Scott family moved more than 20 times across the country and world, with all six kids in tow.
And if that’s not amazing enough, all six of her children decided to join the military.
Kerney, an Army first lieutenant, took to the skies as an aviation officer and Black Hawk helicopter pilot. Andy and Kate, both captains, are military lawyers. Karoline, the sole blue uniform in a sea of Army green, is a public affairs captain in the Air Force. Alec is in the Individual Ready Reserve while he studies to be a Catholic priest. He later plans to serve as an Army chaplain. And, Adam is a sophomore at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“My children are my heroes,” Mary told me when we first met last fall. “My husband and I always let them know how proud we are of them and how proud they should be.”
I felt the same about Mary. When I first met her, I immediately was struck by her calm demeanor. With six children in the military in a time of war, one of them deployed and the other stationed overseas, I wondered if I’d be so mellow.
Her secret, she told me, comes down to choice. “I take my mother’s advice: ‘You simply can’t worry about it.’ Worry can be paralyzing, and you don’t want to project those feelings to your children,” she said.
As a consummate worrier, believe me, I was taking notes.
A few weeks later, I visited her home in Lorton, Va. The family had decked it out for the holidays and it looked beautiful. A giant Christmas tree towered in the entryway and the tabletops were consumed with the family’s cherished nutcracker collection. Three of the six children had made it home for the holidays: Alec, Adam and Kate. Kate had just returned from a yearlong deployment to Iraq and was there with her husband, also an Army lawyer, and their two children, Matt and Sam.
Although three of her children couldn’t make it, it was evident how thrilled Mary was to have some family home. She bantered with her husband and kids as they gathered around the oversized kitchen island for tea and fruit.
When they do make it home, Mary said, it’s amazing to see how much they have in common.
“It’s just a nice side effect of all of them being in the military,” she said. “They have a great support system in each other. They can speak the same military language.”
I spent a few hours at their house and, to be honest, I didn’t want to leave.
Mary taught me a lot about parenting in a short time, lessons about unconditional support and love, and the power of positive thinking. Perhaps that’s why her children felt free to pursue the path they did.
I just hope I can do the same for my children.
For more on the Scott family, visit American Forces Press Service’s Special Report: Family Tradition.