REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. - One Soldier's deployment bound his family together like the book his son wrote.
Eric Moseley, son of Maj. Steven Moseley, USASMDC/ARSTRAT G-38, wrote the book, "Fluffy's Gift," about his feelings during his father's recent deployment in hopes of helping other children who may suffer while a family member is far away.
"I wrote this book because my dad was in Iraq, and I was sad and lonely," 8-year-old Eric said. "The book is dealing with separation during deployments, and I want people to know that when your dad or mom is gone not to feel sad and lonely."
The book is about a little boy whose father had deployed a lot and the boy had a dog, Fluffy, who comforted him during the deployment. And when his father returned, he gave it to another boy to keep him company while his father was deployed. And when his father came home, that boy passed Fluffy on to another.
"I am very proud of him," Moseley said. "I sat down and read the book and was amazed at his thought process and how well he wrote.
"While reading it, I could see how Eric thought about how his dad was gone and he was sad and lonely and some of the things he was going through during that time," he added.
Eric's mother, Linda, said that while she was dealing with other military families, she didn't know he was feeling sad until she read some of his work and came to understand that it is not only others who are having difficulties.
"While Steven was deployed, I dealt with a lot of deployment issues and taught classes dealing with deployments, but I didn't realize Eric was dealing with some of those issues," Linda said. "Sometimes we don't always see what is right in front of us, and I didn't realize Eric was having different thoughts and concerns. He was very prolific in his writing, and I think he expressed a lot of things that he doesn't always express verbally.
"It is a book about sharing and friendship, and I think sometimes children express a lot of things differently and Eric's was through writing," she added. "I really hope other parents and children can get something out of it and realize that others are going through the same circumstances, and they are not alone."
After writing the book, Eric and his parents were invited to be interviewed by local reporter, Haley Baker from WAAY-31, and talk about the book and share his feelings about his father's deployment and how it led him to put pen to paper.
"It is going to be pretty cool to be on TV," the young author said. "I can't wait to tell all my friends at school."
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