Do you know how prevalent drug addiction is? According to statistics, approximately 38 million Americans have been hooked on cocaine for practically all of their lifetime. That data still doesn't include other forms of addiction. No matter what type of addiction a person is shackled in, the consequences remain the same: broken lives, broken relationships, broken future.
If your heart is touched to help the lives of others oppressed by their addiction, you just might have the calling of an addiction counselor. More than a calling, this role can also give you a career. Here are some of the things you might want to know about an addiction counselor.
1. Exactly who is an addiction counselor?
They are highly qualified and well-trained professionals who can provide support to recovering addicts through a customized and personalized recovery plan. With the varied recovery options available, the personal approach is ideal for addiction victims as it acknowledges their preference and convenience.
2. What can you expect from an addiction counselor?
The addiction counselor performs many functions but the prominent of which is to be a support system for persons who want to recover. These professionals journey with the client continually as most of them may have relapses.
3. Should you be trained to become an addiction counselor?
The basic educational qualification for a counselor is a high school diploma. But attaining further education or a master's degree can provide you with more knowledge on how to professionally assist a client. There are also state-approved licenses that you have to pass before you can actually practice as a counselor.
However, if you're focusing on establishing a career as an addiction counselor, you need to hold a master's degree and complete a defined amount of clinical experience with supervision. These are normal procedures that will end up for your overall benefit as well as your client's lifetime welfare.
4. How else can an addiction counselor serve?
The addiction counselor is not confined to a rehabilitation center alone. They are also needed in hospitals, private services for families and individuals, substance abuse centers, and even as part of the government. You can even work with kids and teenagers in their schools or programs after their school time. When you want to pursue this career, you certainly have a lot of options to choose from a provider of Healthcare Staffing in Philadelphia.
To help you in this career path, join us at ATC Healthcare Services. As a premier provider of Medical Staffing in Upper Darby, PA, we have connections to various agencies and facilities that will need your expertise and training. Contact us today to jumpstart your career as one of the trusted Healthcare Providers in our times.
This entry was posted in Health Care and tagged Counseling, Healthcare Professional, Healthcare Provider, Healthcare Team. Bookmark the permalink.


Internet Shop & Collect is a personal service designed to allow you to receive your purchases from any internet retailer delivered to us and ready for you to collect at your convenience.
The ideal cure for your online shopping headaches for deliveries from Zalando, Amazon, Ricardo, etc. No more queuing at the local post office, taking time off work to wait for a delivery or worrying whether your 'safe place' is safe enough!
Perfect choice for occasional parcel deliveries and ideal solution letting you take control of your online shopping without the need of a recurring subscription.
Based on our Personal mailbox solution, this is also a personal mailing address. That means you can have all your mail and any parcels, signed-for and special deliveries delivered to your own numbered post box.


Earlier this month the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that may turn out to be the first opportunity to test the Congressional Review Act (CRA) post-disapproval restriction on rulemaking.
The CRA authorizes Congress to use an expedited process to nullify recent rules. It has been used successfully 17 times, 16 of which were in the Trump Administration. (The other was at the start of the George W. Bush Administration.) Congressional disapproval does not merely eliminate the disapproved rule, though, it goes further: "A [disapproved rule] may not be reissued in substantially the same form, and a new rule that is substantially the same as such a rule may not be issued, unless the reissued or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving the original rule." 5 U.S.C. 801(b)(2).


text:
2 Used materials
3 Experimental methods
Thermal characterization of a new bio-composite building material based on plaster and waste chicken feathers
Mohamed Ouakarrouch, Najma Laaroussi* and Mohammed Garoum
Mohammed V University in Rabat, Materials, Energy, and Acoustics Team (MEAT), Rabat, Morocco
* e-mail: najma.laaroussi@um5.ac.ma
The building materials used in Morocco characterized by a low thermal resistance which generates a huge expense in terms of energy consumption. Promoting new sustainable construction and insulation materials become a necessity. This research study aimed to develop the thermal proprieties of plaster building material by mixing it with waste chicken feathers (WCF) in order to be used as wall exterior rendering. For the purpose of determining the thermal properties of the biocomposite material Plaster-WCF, several experimental measurements of thermophysical proprieties had been performed in order to determine apparent density, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity using the hot plate method in steady-state regime and the Flash method, respectively. The results showed that the addition of waste chicken feathers leads to a remarkable reduction in apparent density of about 12.3%, the thermal conductivity and diffusivity have been reduced by about 30.2% and 18%, respectively, which shows the interest of using this biocomposite material in the construction buildings in order to ensure thermal comfort and reduce greenhouse gas emissions (CO2).
© M. Ouakarrouch et al., published by EDP Sciences, 2020
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
For the purpose of ensuring good thermal comfort in building without harming the environment, it is necessary to search for more energy-efficient construction mode by reducing the need for heating and air conditioning. The building is the second largest energy-consuming sector after transportation with consumption rate of 28%. In Morocco, this sector accounts for 25% of the country's total energy consumption. In this context, Morocco has adopted an energy efficiency strategy applied to build sector. This strategy aims to save about 1.2 MTep of energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions about 4.5 MTeqco2 by 2020 [1].
The thermal insulation of building envelopes is one of effective techniques adopted to ensure thermal comfort and to save climate change while reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The materials commonly used in construction characterized by low thermal insulation properties [2,3], which has attracted the interest of many researchers to develop new bio-composite materials by incorporating natural and sustainable additives into different matrices. These additives have excellent mechanical, thermal and acoustical properties [4]. Also, the new composite material is renewable, recyclable and available.
Several studies have been carried out to study the improvement of thermal performance by adding natural fibers. The effect of the addition of date palm fibers on the thermophysical properties of cement mortar was investigated by Boumhaout et al. [5]. Authors in this work found out that the addition of fibers reduces the thermal conductivity of the mortar about 70%, declines the thermal diffusivity about 52% and decreases the density about 39%. Another work studied the mortar matrix reinforced with coconut and durian fibers [6]. The results obtained show a decrease in thermal conductivity and a gain in lightness of about 85% and 52% respectively for coconut fiber reinforced mortar composite. Concerning the sample reinforced by durian nut fibers, thermal conductivity and density were reduced by about 79% and 27% respectively. Compressive strength decreased by 89% and 85%, respectively. Belhadj et al. [7] have characterized the thermomechanical behavior of concrete reinforced with barley straw fibers, the results show that these fibers can improve thermal conductivity (5.71%), thermal diffusivity (21.97%), specific heat (29.04%) and density (7%). However, the compressive strength is reduced by 38%. The work of Ricciardi et al. [8] was devoted to study two insulating panels based on paper waste and textile waste, with a total thickness of 12 mm and 20 mm, respectively. The results reveal thermal conductivity values similar to that of synthetic insulators (0.037 W/m.K), while the densities are much higher. Ouakarrouch et al. [9] conducted an experimental and numerical study to assess the thermal comfort of "Ksar Lamaadid" located in Erfoud region. This ksar is built with a new biocomposite material based on clay and sisal fibers. The results showed that the addition of 4% of sisal fibers can reduce the thermal conductivity of the material by about 11.2%, which can ensure thermal comfort by reducing greenhouse gas emissions by about 62442 kg of CO2/yr.
Poultry waste, especially chicken feathers, is destroyed by incineration or burial in landfills. This makes the process of their degradation extremely toxic for humans as well as for the environment due to the pollution of soil, air, surface water and groundwater. In order to combat these environmental constraints, a direct treatment of waste chicken feathers can be carried out in two steps, the first related to anaerobic digestion in a bioreactor to produce biogas and the second that upgrade the digestate into compost [10]. However, several studies have been conducted on biocomposite construction materials based on waste chicken feather. The mechanical properties of composites of epoxy, polyester and phenyl ester reinforced with chicken feather fibers have been characterized by Srivatsav et al. [11] and Subramani et al. [12]. The similarity in stiffness and strength between cement-based composite materials reinforced with chicken feather fibers (5–10%) and those reinforced with wood fibers with the same thickness and density has been demonstrated by Acta [13]. The work of Wahab et al. [14] indicated that the addition of a chicken spine in concrete has a remarkable effect on its compressive strength and fracture. However, fibers degradation of chicken feather in cementations composite materials can be caused by high concentration of pH as demonstrated in [15,16] then was approved by Zhang et al. [17]. They compared the mechanical properties of two types of mortars reinforced with different mass fractions varying from 1% until 5% and they noted that the chicken feather fibers adhere excellently to magnesium silicate hydrate cement mortars (pH = 10) compared to Portland cement mortars (pH = 12.6).
This paper consists to elaborate a new bio-composite material based on plaster with different mass fractions of waste chicken feathers (0%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 5%), in order to use it as coating roof ceilings and interior wall coating. This new material can meet the requirements of thermal comfort while reducing energy consumption, and ensure a healthy environment through the valorization of waste issues. An experimental characterization of thermo-physical properties of this material has been conducted so as to identify the key factor of material properties, namely the apparent density, the thermal conductivity, and the thermal diffusivity using the hot plate method in steady-state regime and the Flash method, respectively. The experimental results are presented and discussed.
2.1 Plaster
Plaster is a very popular material used in the building. It is characterized by a powder texture which is obtained by gypsum exploitation. It is widely used as a wall coating and roof ceiling due to its low density, fairly malleability and its availability in the market.
2.2 Waste chicken feathers
Chicken feathers (WCF) are considered to be the waste products of the poultry industry, representing about 5 to 10% of the chicken total weight [18]. The intensive production of this waste is related to the excessive consumption of white meats 20.5 kg/habit/year [19]. Moreover, the generated waste is landfilled without any treatment or exploitation and has adverse environmental impacts.
Samples preparation
The studied waste chicken feathers (WCF) were collected from Benavic Company, washed with hot water mixed with 5% of the detergent solution during 2 h, in order to remove all kinds of blood, manure, impurity, and smell (Fig. 1a). Then they were drying in ambient temperature for 3 days. After this step, the dried chicken feathers were cut into 2 cm in length (Fig. 1b). The preparation of the composite materials (WCF) carried out in parallelepiped steel molds of dimensions 150 × 150 × 30 mm3. The studied samples were prepared by mixing plaster with various mass fractions of (WCF) (2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%). A water ratio (W/P = 0.6) was gradually added and escorted by manual stirring to ensure a good homogenization of the various components (Fig. 1c). The resulting mixture was pouring into the mold. A reference sample was manufactured using pure plaster to analyze the impact of adding fibers on the thermos-physical properties of the composite samples.
The five samples were then drying in ambient temperature for 24 h. A smoothing of the outer surface was carried out to ensure perfect contact during experimental measurements. After, the samples were dried in the oven at 60 °C for 2 days in order to eliminate the moisture. The drying process will be stopped until the sample mass was constant ±2 g. Finally, they were packing with plastic to keep their dry states (Fig. 1d).
Different stages of sample preparation.
3.1 Hot plate method in a steady-state regime
The hot plate in steady-state regime is used to determinate the thermal conductivity of the studied composite materials. The experimental device is shown in Figure 2. The method consists to transmit a uniform heat flux φ T by heating element through the lower face of the sample to measure the temperature evolution of both upper faces [20]. The heating element having a parallelepiped form with the dimensions 150 × 150 × 0,2 mm3 and electrical resistance of R e = 37.89 Ω. The three elements are arranged between two aluminum blocks in order to ensure a constant temperature on the unheated faces.
Three thermocouples type K are placed at the centers of faces. The uncertainty value of the test devices, these thermocouples, is +/− 0.6 °C. The measured temperatures are T 0 at the center of the lower face of the heating element, T 1 at the center of the unheated face of the sample and T 2 at the center of the polyethylene foam, as shown in Figure 2.
The heat fluxes transmitted through the sample φ S and the polyethylene foam φ P are assumed unidirectional (Eq. (1)). As soon as the steady-state regime is established, the thermal conductivity of the sample is calculated by equation (2). (1) (2)
where λ s and e s designate the thermal conductivity and the thickness of the sample, respectively. λ p = 0.043 W/m.K and e = 9.6 mm are, respectively, the thermal conductivity and the thickness of the polyethylene foam.
Experimental device of hot plate method in a steady-state regime.
3.2 Flash method
The Flash method enables the estimation of the thermal diffusivity a (m2/s) to characterize the heat flux rate passing through a given material, as described in Figure 3. The method consists to send a high power luminous flux (1000 W) for a short time (10 s) on the front side before the material and to follow the temperature development from its backside. The sample must be tinted in black to absorb the totality of generated light flow. Then, the sample is surrounded by a polystyrene guard ring arranged to minimize the flux losses on the sides. The contact area between the sample and the sample holder must be plugged using glass wool. The system is placed in well-insulated thermal with a reflective faces box.
The absorbed light output φ 0 is uniform across the sample surface, the initial temperature T 0 is equal to the ambient temperature at t = 0. The lateral heat losses are negligible and the heat transfer is unidirectional.
Given these assumptions, we can write: (3)
where a is the thermal diffusivity, h 1 and h 2 are the coefficients of heat exchange at the two sides of the sample; f(t) is the time dependence of the heat generation. The product φ 0 × f(t) denotes the finite pulse of a flash duration t d. The above equation will be transformed into the space of Laplace to obtain the following equation: (4)
F(p) is the Laplace transform of f(t), e is the thickness of the sample, bi1 and bi2 are the numbers of Biot, T max is the adiabatic limit temperature. (5)
Numerical inversion of the equation (4) is necessary in order to obtain the expression of the theoretical temperature T h of the backside of the sample according to the parameters: e, T max, bi1, bi2, and t. Those parameters will be estimated from experimental data and their optimal values can be obtained by minimizing the squared distance between the theoretical and experimental curves (Eq. (6)) as explained in [21]. The calculation code has been implemented in Matlab language and the estimation was performed by the Levenberg- Marquardt algorithm [22]. (6)
Schema of the flash method.
This section presents the results of the thermophysical characterization of plaster material with different mass fractions of waste chicken feathers: the apparent density ρ app (kg/m3), the thermal conductivity λ (W/m.K) and the thermal diffusivity a (m2/s).
Each sample was tested three times in order to get satisfactory thermograms and to respect the accuracy of experimental requirements. It is essential to remove the samples from the device and then replace them between two measurements.
4.1 Apparent density
The economic focus in the building sector is on lightweight materials that the identification of apparent density becomes an important process. To determine the apparent density, it is necessary to measure the weight of the sample and its dimensions. The mass of the studied samples was weighed in the dry state using an electric balance and their dimensions were measured using a high-precision caliper. The apparent density is therefore calculated based on the following equation: (7)
Figure 4 shows the variation of the apparent density of the composite materials based on plaster and different percentage of (WCF) (0%, 2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%). It can be noted that the incorporation of (WCF) in plaster material leads to a remarkable reduction in the bulk density of the material from 1196.3 to 1048.9 Kg/m3, which allows again in the lightness of about 12.3% for the sample containing 5% of fibers. This reduction is mainly due to the material porosity created with the addition of waste chicken feathers. The result proves the efficiency of the application of those materials as interior wall coating and roof ceilings. Moreover, those bio-composite construction materials show a good adherent structure.
Apparent density of the various samples.
4.2 Thermal conductivity
The measurement of thermal conductivity of the studied samples was performed using the hot plate method in a steady-state regime. The input data such as sample thickness, voltage, and electrical resistance and the recording of the three temperatures T 0, T 1 and T 2 and the thermal conductivity measurement of the different samples were summarized in Table 1. The maximum deviation is about 4.1% showing that the used method is so reliable. It is clear that the thermal conductivity decreases with the increasing of waste chicken feathers contents with a rate of 30.2%, starting from 0.520 W/m.K which represents the thermal conductivity of the pure plaster until 0.363 W/m.K corresponding to the composite P+5% WCF. This reduction is mainly due to two principal factors, the first one is related to the chicken feathers low thermal conductivity, the second one is associated with the creation of air-filled pores generated inside the composite material through the incorporation of chicken feathers. In fact, the air has a very low thermal conductivity (0.026 W/m.K) that will cause a decrease in the thermal conductivity of the composite.
Measurement input data and experimental results for the thermal conductivity of various samples.
4.3 Thermal diffusivity
The thermal diffusivity of the various samples characterized in this study was estimated using the flash method. According to several tests results, it is found that the flash duration (10 s) is largely sufficient to ensure a 0.9 °C of maximum rear face temperature increase. The maximum error measurement does not exceed 5.2%. Figure 5 shows an experimental thermogram which describes the rear face temperature rise of the P+5%WCF composite. Table 2 summarizes the results obtained for the five studied samples. As a result, the thermal diffusivity of the composite material decreases as the mass fraction of waste chicken feathers increases. The thermal diffusivity decrease from 3.45 × 10−7 m2/s for the sample containing 100% of plaster to 2.84×10−7 m2/s for the composite P + 5% WCF with an average reduction of 18%. This is probably due to the creation of air-filled pores inside the composite through the integration of waste chicken feathers. Knowing that air represented high thermal insulation properties, the composite containing more pores will have more ability to hold back the heat transfer rate.
The result found demonstrates the impact of adding waste chicken feather on the reinforcement and improvement of the fundamental thermal properties of building materials, which will sequentially ameliorate insulation quality and thermal comfort of buildings.
Similar results were obtained by Lachheb et al. [23] which studied the influence of adding coffee grounds, on the thermal properties of plaster. The authors of this work showed that adding 6% in the mass fraction of the used coffee grounds to the plaster might reduce its thermal conductivity from 0.5 to 0.314 W/m.K (38%).
An experimental study was conducted by Cherki et al. [24] on the improvement of thermal conductivity and lightness of plaster by incorporating granular cork. The results of this study show a reduction in thermal conductivity of about 30%.
Experimental thermogram of flash method.
The experimental results for thermal diffusivity of various samples.
The main objective of this paper is to study the thermal performance of new bio-composite material based on plaster and waste chicken feather. Experimental methods were used to estimate apparent density, thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of plaster material with different mass fractions of waste chicken feathers (0%, 2%, 3%, 4% and 5%). As a result, it follows that:
the addition of WCF (5%) can reduce the thermal conductivity of the composite material with about 30.2%. Similarly, the thermal diffusivity has been reduced by about 18%. In addition, WCF lightens the building material, as its density has been reduced to 12.3%;
the use of new composite material in building construction can ensure thermal comfort without heating or cooling systems and can reduce greenhouse gas emissions because the reduction of energy consumption has a big impact on CO2 emissions.
Moroccan Agency for the Development of Renewable Energies and Energy Efficiency (ADEREE), Règlement Thermique de Construction au Maroc. 2014, www.adree.ma [Google Scholar]
M. Ouakarrouch, K. El Azhary, N. Laaroussi, M. Garoum, A. Feiz, Three-dimensional numerical simulation of conduction, natural convection, and radiation through alveolar building walls, Case Studies Constr. Mater. 11, e00249 (2019) [Google Scholar]
N. Laaroussi, G. Lauriat, S. Raefat, M. Garoum, M. Ahachad, An example of comparison between ISO Norm calculations and full CFD simulations of thermal performances of hollow bricks, J. Build. Eng. 11, 69–81 (2017) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
F. Asdrubali, F. D'Alessandro, S. Schiavoni, A review of unconventional sustainable building insulation materials, Sustain. Mater. Technol. 4, 1–17 (2015) [Google Scholar]
M. Boumhaout, L. Boukhattem, H. Hamdi, B. Benhamou, F.A. Nouh, Thermomechanical characterization of a bio-composite building material: Mortar reinforced with date-palm fibers mesh, Constr. Build. Mater. 135, 241–250 (2017) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
J. Khedari, B. Suttisonk, N. Pratinthong, J. Hirunlabh, New lightweight composite construction materials with low thermal conductivity, Cem. Concr. Compos. 23, 65–70 (2001) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
B. Belhadj, M. Bederina, Z. Makhloufi, A. Goullieux, M. Quéneudec, Study of the thermal performances of an exterior wall of barley straw sand concrete in an arid environment, Energy Build. 87, 166–75 (2015) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
P. Ricciardi, E. Belloni, F. Cotana, Innovative panels with recycled materials: thermal and acoustic performance and life cycle assessment, Appl. Energy 134, 150–162 (2014) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
M. Ouakarrouch, K. El Azhary, M. Mansour, N. Laaroussi, M. Garoum, Thermal study of clay bricks reinforced by sisal-fibers used in construction in South of Morocco, Energy Reports, 2019 [Google Scholar]
M. Ouakarrouch, F. Kifani-Sahban, N. Laaroussi, M. Garoum, S. M. Layakhaf, Thermal Insulation and Operation by Photovoltaic Solar Energy of a Bioreactor, in 2018 IEEE 6th International Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conference (IRSEC), 1–5 [Google Scholar]
V. Srivatsav, C. Ravishankar, M. Ramakarishna, Y. Jyothi, T. N. Bhanuparakash, Mechanical and thermal properties of chicken feather reinforced epoxy composite, AIP Conf. Proc. 1992, 040034 (2018) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
T. Subramani, S. Krishnan, S. K. Ganesan, G. Nagarajan, Investigation of mechanical properties in polyester and phenylester composites reinforced with chicken feather fiber, Int. J. Eng. Res. Appl. 4, 93–104 (2014) [Google Scholar]
M.N. Acda, Waste chicken feather as reinforcement in cement-bonded composites, Philipp. J. Sci. 139, 161–166 (2010) [Google Scholar]
E.S.A. Wahab, S.F.C. Osmi, Mechanical properties of concrete added with chicken rachis as reinforcement, Appl. Mech. Mater. 147, 37–41 (2012) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
M.M. El-Hawary, S.A. Hamoush, Feather fiber reinforced concrete, Concr. Int. 16, 33–35 (1994) [Google Scholar]
P. Staron, M. Banach, Z. Kowalski, Keratin-origins, properties, application, Chemik. 65, 1019–1026 (2011) [Google Scholar]
T. Zhang, E. Dieckmann, S. Song, J. Xie, Z. Yu, C. Cheeseman, Properties of magnesium silicate hydrate (MSH) cement mortars containing chicken feather fibres, Constr. Build. Mater. 180, 692–697 (2018) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
T. Tesfaye, B. Sithole, D, Ramjugernath, T. Mokhothu, Valorisation of chicken feathers: Characterisation of thermal, mechanical and electrical properties, Sustain. Chem. Pharm. 9, 27–34 (2018) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
The Interprofessional Federation of the Poultry Sector in Morocco [Google Scholar]
Y. Jannot, A. Degiovanni, Thermal properties measurement of materials, ISTE edn. (John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2018) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
S. Raefat, M. Garoum, N. Laaroussi, et al. Thermal diffusivity and adiabatic limit temperature characterization of consolidate granular expanded perlite using the flash method, IOP Conf. Ser. Mater. Sci. Eng. 222, 012004 (2017) [Google Scholar]
D. Marquardt, An algorithm for least-squares estimation of nonlinear parameters, J. Appl. Math. 11, 431–441 (1963) [Google Scholar]
A. Lachheb, A. Allouhi, M. El Marhoune, R. Saadani, T. Kousksou, A. Jamil, O. Oussouaddi, Thermal insulation improvement in construction materials by adding spent coffee grounds: An experimental and simulation study, J. Clean. Prod. 209, 1411–1419 (2019) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
A. Cherki, A. Khabbazi, B. Remy, D. Baillis, Granular cork content dependence of thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the composite material/granular cork bound with plaster, Energy Procedia 42, 83–92 (2013) [CrossRef] [Google Scholar]
Cite this article as: Mohamed Ouakarrouch, Najma Laaroussi, Mohammed Garoum, Thermal characterization of a new bio-composite building material based on plaster and waste chicken feathers, Renew. Energy Environ. Sustain. 5, 2 (2020)
The impact of efficient insulation on thermal performance of building elements in hot arid region
Thermal characterization of a new effective building material based on clay and olive waste
The effect of chemical treatment on the mechanical and thermal properties of composite materials based on clay reinforced with sawdust
Matériaux & Techniques 109, 101 (2021)
Thermal characterization of fibrous aerogel blanket

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


In four months, she will be 2. I know there will be more work trips. Some will be a week, some will be a month, and in the future, depending on where we go, they may be many months. That is the military life. That is the life my husband and I chose. But it is not the lifechose.
She's getting older now, my daughter. When he comes home from work, she hears the door unlocking and she stops what she is doing to watch him walk through. Then she runs to him, and with a joy that only a toddler can have, she hugs his legs and lifts her arms to be picked up by him. He says, "Can Papa have loves?" and pressing her lips together, she sticks them out while going "mmmmmm." I can hear his heart melt when she does this. The love and the joy that they both feel in that moment, it's so tangible I can almost touch it.
It makes me so happy, even though I feign envy to him. I complain that I get the joy of the tantrums and the tears, and he gets the kisses and the hugs. But, if I am being honest, I am secretly happy about that. Because as beautiful as it is that she sees him and knows him to be her Papa, I know she will soon understand what it means when he is gone.
It's already starting, I catch glimpses of it every now and then. When he is not traveling, sometimes I take her to the playground outside of our building just before he comes home from work, so that when he parks I can call to him that we are there, and he can come over and push her on the swing or help her down the slide. She runs up to the fence when she sees him walking up, and then she follows him through the fence line, her little feet running, until he makes it to the entrance of the playground. When he is traveling, I catch her staring at that fence and I just know in my heart she is looking... waiting for him to walk up. She runs around, she plays, but then she lingers by the fence. Knowing there is something familiar about it.
She gets excited when she hears the familiar ringing of a Skype call. She comes alive and the biggest smile in Italy lives on her face as she gazes back at her Papa. They make silly faces at each other, she bounces up and down doing her happy dance. He doesn't see it, but every time our call is over, she cries. My heart rips into a million pieces, for him and for her.
The last time he came home from a week-long work trip, she ran to him and made a noise that can only be described as crying for joy. She was so happy to see him it actually made her emotional, and it made me emotional to hear it.
In four months, she will be 2. I know there will be more work trips. Some will be a week, some will be a month, and in the future, depending on where we go, they may be many months. That is the military life. That is the life my husband and I chose.
But it is not the life she chose.
As she gets older, it will get harder before it gets easier -- before it is the "norm" for her. I don't relish in the idea of having to catch more of those tears as they fall, knowing there is nothing I can do to prevent them. But I know in my heart she will be resilient. I know that there will be something about this life, though tougher than most, it will teach her something that she couldn't have learned any other way.
To my husband, if you are reading this, it's not your fault. This is our life. This is what we signed up for. And this is what we will get through together, as a family. I know you feel guilty, but you shouldn't. You are a great father to our daughter. Even though you may have to leave us every now and then, she will know and one day understand that it was and is for a greater good. She will be so proud of you, and you will be her hero. You already are.
To the military spouses reading this, your children will know you did the best you could. Our spouses are the defenders of freedom, and we are the defenders of the homefront. Your children might not understand it now, but one day they will, and they will be proud of you -- and you will be there hero too. Because the truth is, you already are.