Gracie Burgess was just 9 years old when the unthinkable happened, her father Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Burgess had stepped on an IED while on a patrol in Afghanistan and was suffering from life-threatening injuries.

At the time, Gracie nor her sister knew the extent of what had happened. Their mother Genette tried to comfort her girls while also preparing to meet her husband in Germany where he was receiving care.

What followed was months of uncertainty as the girls were separated from their parents while their dad endured multiple surgeries and an extensive recovery process with his wife by his side.

“We’re a close family so that time apart was scary,” Gracie said, “We didn’t know if Dad was going to be ok, and the times we could talk to him, he wasn’t very responsive.”

When Daniel was stable, he was transferred to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas to continue care.

Until now the girls had been staying with a close family friend and hadn’t seen their parents in several months.

“We didn’t know what to expect. I just remember wondering if he was still going to be alive when we landed.”

At the time, Gracie didn’t know that her dad had undergone a leg amputation. Genette was left to explain to her two young girls the gravity of what had happened.

Before Daniel had been deployed one of the last movies they’d watched as a family was “Dolphin Tale,” featuring the true story of an injured dolphin who received a prosthetic tail and learned to swim again.

He told his wife “If a dolphin can do it, I can do it.” This gave Genette exactly what she needed to explain the situation to their young family.

“I remember mom telling us that dad was going to get a flipper like “Dolphin Tale,” and then we just started laughing and making light of the situation.”

The family then began staying at the Brooke Army Medical Center Army Fisher House and when Daniel was well enough, he joined them.

“We were so excited to be together, but it was also hard. We were just kids, and we were having to learn what it meant to be caregivers, too.” Gracie said. “There were people in wheelchairs like our dad, people who were burned, paralyzed, and we were all having to lean on each other and learn together.”

Gracie further explained that Fisher House gave them a sense of normalcy as they were able to finally do things together as a family, like make breakfast or get ready for school, alleviating uncertainty.

“I know my dad would say that having us all under the same roof saved his life,” Gracie said.

Now, over ten years later, Gracie has become an advocate for military children, telling their stories and building programs that provide support for life as a military kid.

She is the founder and host of Grace of a Military Child and Life a podcast for military children and spouses to share their life experiences. She is also starting a new program- Military Child Bigs and Littles, a mentorship program for current military children.

“Looking back, I loved being a military kid,” Gracie said, “It definitely gave me the experiences to become who I am today, and I want to continue to give back to the military community that gave me so much.”

Visit her blog at https://goamcl.org/about