August 19, 2010 – Mercy Hall

A Perfect Day for a BBQ!

When I told the butcher I was
going to wipe him out of steaks he asked me why. “We’re having a barbecue
for the guys wounded in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan
tomorrow at

Bethesda.” “Would you like me to cut them fresh for you?
It won’t take long, 10 minutes or so.” “Sure!”

They were just gorgeous and
even better, they were on sale!

We arrived at the hospital,
unloaded, and while Jess, Susie and Jeanne were setting up inside
I was outside showing Wayne and Russell the huge tub of steaks, hamburgers
and hot dogs buried in ice, another container with all the flippers,
tongs, spray bottle for water, sharp knife, pot holders, BBQ sauce,
A-1 Sauce, serving trays, and 4 bags of Matchlite.

“Well, if we are going to serve
at 11:00, when do you think we should start the coals?” I asked them.

“I don’t know, I thought you
knew.”

“I don’t know how to do this
stuff. Someone else always does it.”

“I don’t either, thought you
did!”

Robert to the rescue!

“I’ll do it!”

My Hero!

It turns out that Robert was
a cook on a ship before he came to Bethesda

to work at Mercy Hall. He poured the charcoal in, burned the old grease
off of the racks, put on the apron and was ready to roll, perfectly
comfortable as “cook of the day”.

A man in uniform AND he cooks
AND he’s a good sport!

Sorry, Ladies, he’s married.

Russell, a WWII Veteran, is
married too, to Jeanne.

Back inside Jeanne had some
help cutting up the watermelon.

Susie was hobbling around setting
things up. The Marines offered to get her a wheel chair so she wouldn’t
have to walk around on broken toes but she declined.

Jess and Jeanne were given
the task of husking the corn Susie had grilled that morning. Potato
salad, garden salad, fresh fruit, dinner rolls, Jeanne’s cookies,
smoothies and root beer floats rounded out the menu.

Wayne and Russell stayed busy
supervising Robert. Hard job but someone had to do it!

The Choptank Marine Corps League
Detachment they were representing donated the funds to buy the steaks,
hamburgers, hot dogs and more for the BBQ.

It was time to draw the winning
name for the “Maid of Honor” quilt.

And the winner of Marine Moms-Bethesda
“Maid of Honor” quilt is

Tom and Marcia A. from

Maryland!

Congratulations!

But you know what? Everyone
who participated in the quilt raffle is a winner!

Thank you for caring enough
about the men and women Marine Moms-Bethesda serves to participate
in the raffle. These men and women have served our country, have hit
a rough spot and are adapting admirably and courageously to a tough
situation. They are overcoming hurdles daily
that many of us would never dream of having to face.

One of the most satisfying
things, for me, about doing the luncheons, is to see their recovery
month to month. Some of the Marines we usually see weren’t there for
the BBQ and we found out that they were home on leave but will be
returning. Others we met a year ago, still recovering, some still
going through surgeries.

There are Marines at Mercy
Hall that we met on 5 East when they were
in a wheelchair being pushed around by a Corpsman. Now they are walking
on their own with the help of a cane or completely on their own. Others
are waiting for their final paperwork. The new arrivals that haven’t
experienced one of the luncheons are so appreciative of them. They
all are, and so are the family members with loved ones on 5 East who
come over for lunch. They ALL look forward to us coming back.

Our next scheduled luncheon
for Mercy Hall is October 28^th and the next scheduled 5
East luncheon is September 26.

Our crew members for today
were Jeanne, Susie, Russell, Jane, Jess, and

Wayne.

Thank you! Job Well Done!

Until next time, continued
prayers for our military and their families.

Love and hugs,

The website the logo below is linked to has good information on it for ALL branches of service and
for wounded Warriors, active duty, Reserves and Veterans and their
families.

You do NOT have to have gone through the military
hospitals or the Wounded Warrior Regiments and Transition units to
use the resources at this site. From their website:

“WWCTP serves the needs of wounded, ill, injured
(WII) and transitioning servicemembers by developing policy to ensure every
WII servicemember receives the best support
possible and every servicemember

reintegrating to civilian life is prepared to succeed.”
(Italics are mine.)