Her voice got high and whiny. "I thought you understood! I want to marry a SEAL. I want to live overseas. I want to be the wife of a Special Operator!" I laughed as I caught the take-off to the line from that classic old movie my Mom liked, 'An Officer and a Gentleman.' Richard Gere is over eighty years old, for crying out loud.

The visit was just what we both needed to cheer each other up. Amy told me about how wonderful Kai and his family had been to her, and I told her about modeling and fundraising. I asked her about school; it turned out she finished...