Hope: In the Aftermath of War

Daniel L. Bernardi
2025-05-09

After returning from combat, a soldier’s struggle with trauma, addiction, and fractured family ties forces her daughter to confront the quiet war unfolding at home—one that neither of them signed up for but both must survive.
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13 min

Hope is an intimate portrait of a military family fractured by the invisible wounds of war. At its heart is Catherine, a decorated soldier and mother who returns from deployment profoundly changed—emotionally withdrawn, plagued by guilt, and struggling with addiction. Her daughter, Hope, once protected by her mother's strength, becomes a witness to her unraveling, forced to mature too quickly amid the chaos of relocation, strained family bonds, and a lack of institutional support. As Catherine battles to reintegrate, her marriage collapses, and the military’s absence of post-deployment care deepens her isolation. Her husband leaves, her daughter grows distant, and Catherine is left with the crushing realization that service came at a cost no one prepared her for.