Jessie James Decker Shares Lessons Learned From Mom Karen About Motherhood, Service, And Making Home ‘Where You Hang Your Hat'

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2 days ago

Musician, best-selling author, and entrepreneur Jessie James Decker was born on a military base and grew up on various bases because her father served in the Air Force. She even documented her early life in her 2012 hit, 'Military Man.'
'This has just been a part of my entire childhood. It's a very unique and special lifestyle and I've seen it all. I've seen the community. I've seen the camaraderie amongst families and other military families and friends that I've made along the way,' she said when she and her mother, Karen Parker recently sat down with Southern Living.
Growing up in a military family meant that Decker and her siblings moved many times throughout childhood. But now, she is reflecting on the lessons she learned in that time, and in all of those new homes from her mother, Karen Parker.
'There is a line that I used to tell the kids and it's a line that Jessica put in her song. And it's 'home is where you hang your hat,' Parker explained.
She continued, 'I told the kids that because it's what I felt. Wherever the country needed my husband. Wherever they needed our family, that's where we were going to go. And we were going to do so gladly. So you move, you find a home. You make it your own and you hang up your hat.'
Decker, now a mother of 4 herself said that, 'I've taken so much from my mom. There are so many moments I just think to myself what would mom do in this moment?'
Decker and Parker are working together with Rocket to support military families. Recently they hosted a live chat with other military moms and spouses about their experiences and the importance of the home to help these families find a sense of normalcy.
When speaking with us, Decker said that part of how her mother helped the family embrace the military lifestyle was in her positive attitude, something she's attempting to emulate with her own children.
'I feel like my mom was always so amazing at a lot of things but really amazing at making even the smallest little things feel like the biggest event ever. She always made everything feel so large. Larger than life. Whether it's something small we did at school or a holiday. It could be anything. She always made it feel so grand and so amazing.'
She continued, 'My mom was so great at celebrating every single moment. And because we moved so much, I feel like it made our family so much closer than a lot of families that I knew growing up. And it taught me to be that [way] with my family too.'
Parker said she never looked at their lifestyle as a hardship. 'I feel like I've served gladly alongside my husband. For me it didn't feel like a sacrifice although I know some may perceive it that way. For me it felt like a privilege because I wanted to help my husband do what he does best in the service. He had very big responsibilities and a lot of weight on his shoulders, especially as he continued to get higher in rank.'
And while Parker's husband is now retired from the military (and a second career flying for Delta), the family's commitment to service continues. Whenever the opportunity arises, much like their partnership with Rocket, Decker uses her platform to support military families. 'If there are any military ties, I'm always jumping up and down to be a part of it because this was my life.'
Parker hopes to spread the message that whether or not we have military members in our family, we can all help simply by reaching out to the families in our communities.
'Every move requires new schools. The kids have to make new friends. Sign up for new sports, pediatricians, dentists. Everything is a completely fresh new start everywhere we went. I think maybe [when] people were just more aware to be welcoming and inclusive, that always helped the kids get acclimated a lot quicker.'
Read the original article on Southern Living