Blue Star Stories

Welcome to our blog where you'll find the stories from the lives of our Blue Star Families.

Sleep Number® and Kansas City Chiefs Join Together to Welcome Retired Army Family with a New Bed for Their Forever Home

September 16, 2022

Meet Neil, a retired Armor Officer in the Army, father of three, and dedicated husband. He served 21 years including five deployments during Operation Iraqi Freedom and has lived across the country from Texas to Hawaii. He is most excited about the final stop in his family’s journey in Kansas City, where his family recently…

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PRIDE in Network: How One Spouse Found His Again

September 16, 2022

As a successful New Zealand diplomat of 14 years, David was a well-traveled and established professional. He’d been through several overseas tours to places like Indonesia, Chile, and finally, Hawaii, where he met his future spouse, John, an Army Chief Warrant Officer 2.  “My career as a diplomat was promising and on an upward trajectory,”…

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Spending too much on your military family’s vision needs? This can help!

September 15, 2022

Did you know you could save hundreds of dollars on your military family’s vision needs (including all those pairs of glasses) by getting supplemental vision care? Because supplemental vision care is a relatively new option for military families, there are still many questions. So we called our friends from Blue Cross Blue Shield FEP Vision,…

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Moving with the military? Know this one thing!

September 12, 2022

It’s a well-known fact that you’re no stranger to moving as a military family. In fact, you could probably consider yourself a moving “expert” thanks to new orders every couple of years. While most of us understand the basics of a move — our stuff gets boxed, moved, we unpack, organize, and more — some…

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Get the Most Out of the School Year: Advice From a Military Teen

September 6, 2022

As a military family, we often get lost in the sauce when preparing for our kids’ school year. We do the shopping, sign the papers, confirm bus routes, enroll kids at the last minute for reasons that come with our lifestyle, and the list goes on.  This year, I took a different approach to keep…

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Air Force Family Receives Sleep Number® Smart Bed & Surprise Visit from Superstar Cam Akers

August 31, 2022

For Jacob, a crew chief and aerospace maintenance apprentice (say that ten times fast) in the Air Force, hard work and a positive outlook come naturally. As a relatively new Airman, he has worked tirelessly to improve the productivity and morale of his squadron. But what’s most impressive is how his infectious attitude carries home…

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Being Authentic: Growing Connections Between More Families of Color with Transparency in the National Capital Region

August 29, 2022

Metropolitan Washington, D.C. has grown steadily to become more diverse, especially between 2010 and 2020. Today, more than half of the region’s residents identify as non-white. For an area ranked as one of the most diverse places to live in the U.S., it should come as a surprise that military families of color still feel…

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En route to a new duty station? Protect yourself!

August 23, 2022

Did you know? Nearly one-third of the military, and their families, are en route to a new duty station right now and are at risk of their sensitive data getting stolen by someone they know. Protect yourself As you shuffle around, beware that your personal info is more accessible to movers, family members, dumpster divers,…

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Saving Money During Back-to-School Season

August 19, 2022

Many families are feeling stressed and financially strained by inflation and supply chain issues. Amid these challenges, families are prioritizing back-to-school spending. In fact, the National Retail Federation estimates that families with children in elementary through high school will spend an average of $864.35 on school items in 2022. However, when that spending on supplies…

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