Brannan Vines is founder of the nonprofit Family of a Vet. Her husband Caleb did two yearlong tours in Iraq, suffered a traumatic brain injury and struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder, so at the ripe old age of 34 he’s dramatically different than the guy Brannan married. He sometimes has no control over being restless, or paranoid, or unbearably pissed off. In moments of lucidity, he asks his wife why the hell she still loves him. In response, she wrote him a love letter. And knowing that an estimated one in five vets has PTSD, she’s invited other veterans’ families to do the same.

 I’m sharing this with the world… and especially those who struggle beside us each day in “PTSD & TBI world” in the hopes that maybe you’ll write the same sort of letter to the one you love.  It’s hard sometimes in our lives to remember our love stories… to remember the thousands of little moments that add up to a lifetime of love.  But, it is especially important for us to do so as we fight and labor to keep that love alive in the face of hardship and challenges.  So, here is my love letter…

Family of a Vet’s “Love Letter Campaign,” which kicked off on Veteran’s Day and runs until Valentine’s Day, has published dozens of letters to soldiers who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.

(More from Mother Jones and Family of a Vet)