Sarah Holtzmann is an Air Force daughter, Air Force wife, mother of energetic twin toddlers, stepmother of three, and grandmother of three. She taught kindergarten and second grade before becoming a stay-at-home mom. Sarah describes herself as the mother of many children, a teacher of many students, and a student of many mothers.
She wrote “Ready-Made Family,” an essay about her experience growing her blended family, in Stories Around the Table: Laughter, Wisdom, and Strength in Military Life.
She says, “The military has been an important part of my entire life. I have many family members who have been or currently are in the military. They have all accomplished so much in their lives and mean the world to me. My father served as a maintenance officer at Tan Son Nhut Air Base during the 1968 Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War. My husband earned the Bronze Star Medal for his amazing accomplishments during a deployment to Baghdad, Iraq. My stepson continues to receive recognition for his hard work in the Air Force. We are a proud military family! Not only does our family bleed red, white, and blue, but we also have a history of strong women supporting those military men. The spouses working behind the scenes to keep the home fires burning deserve great recognition and support. I believe that the spouses who also have to keep their families ‘blended’ and happy work even harder! I hope my essay brings some of these women a sense of hope and inspiration to keep going and never give up, no matter what type of hardships they may have to endure!”
Sarah graduated from the University of North Dakota with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education. She currently lives with her family in Belleville, Illinois, near Scott Air Force Base.