Local woman hopes to find other Mothers of Soldiers

By Colleen Marshall
Staff writer
Regina Marsters lives daily with the thought – and fear – that her daughter will be deployed to Iraq.
In the midst of her constant worry, she realized there might be other mothers in Southern Maine in a similar situation – mothers she wanted to talk with. Marsters decided to reach out with a plan to start a Mothers of Soldiers group in her home. She now is in the process of getting the word out to area towns to see if there are others who would like to join what she hopes will become part support group, part soldier advocate weekly sessions.
 “I mostly just want to find out if there is interest in the area,” she said.
Marsters said the idea to create the group came during one of her Capella University online classes, where she was asked to observe a support group as part of her master’s degree in mental health counseling curriculum. Marsters said she initially thought she would like to find a military group to work with, but soon the class assignment became a personal quest.
“I thought I’d really like to start my own group – not as part of the assignment, but because I think we really need some support,” she said. “I think there are other people in the same boat and I thought I could help myself and I could help others. The Army has some sort of group, but I don’t think it’s as personal as I want it to be.”
Marsters said her daughter, Carlie Nichols, now stationed in Oahu, Hawaii, is a member of the Hawaii Army National Guard. The 23-year-old, who grew up in Limington and graduated from Greater Portland Christian School, initially joined the Maine Army National Guard, but transferred after meeting and marrying Dennis Nichols. Marstens said her son-in-law was deployed to Iraq with his Army unit in August 2006 and is expected to be there until this August.
“I don’t think she’s going to be sent to Iraq, but you never know,” Marstens said. “I am just praying that it isn’t her because I already have a sick feeling just thinking about it. It’s not because I don’t believe in what is happening there or don’t support it – I just think it’s because it’s a big mess. It’s out of control.”
Marstens said she will have a questionnaire available for anyone interested in the group who contacts her so she is better able to meet each person’s needs and wants.
“I just want to find what interest there is in the group. I want to have some planned activities, but also leave it open so that new members feel comfortable coming in – and don’t feel like they just walked into the middle of something.”
Marstens said she hopes the group is up and running by next month. She said she would be open to meeting anywhere in the area.
“I’d like to be able to work with the women and start some projects,” she said. “I don’t want us to just sit around and cry about it.”
Marstens said some ideas she has jotted down are creating care packages to send to deployed troops and greeting soldiers at the airport upon their return home.
“I just wanted to start something, but I didn’t know what,” she said. “Sometimes one person is not a big enough resource, but if you get more people, they can help with what they want to do and how they want to do it. I think it’s a lot more helpful than just one person working on it.”
For more information on the Mothers of Soldiers group, call Marsters at 839-4906 or contact her via e-mail at fmarsters@maine.rr.com.