All profits from the sale of items in the MM-B store benefit
of serving
combat wounded Veterans
and their families..
Marinemoms-Bethesda.org and Jane's Blog are not endorsed by or connected in any way with the USMC, the DoD or anyone
else official.
The opinions here are the opinions of the author's only.
Copyright © 2007-2010 MarineMoms-Bethesda and Jane's Blog.
All Rights Reserved.
Until next time, continued prayers for our military, their families,
and our country.
Past Posts
Holiday Cheer at Bethesda
Never
Forget!
Quilt Raffle Update
Arlington visit
Independence Day
May 2009
April
2009
March 2009
November 2008
Since becoming a Marine mom in 2003, I have learned how important it is for military parents to connect with other military parents,
not to believe everything in print or on television, and that every one of us has a strength deep down inside to draw upon when we
need it most.
My hope here is to honor the troops and to share online resources, letting you know that you are not alone.
January 3, 2010
Where were you on New Year's Eve?
We were with friends down the street, playing games, enjoying each
other's company, watched the ball drop in NYC on TV, then swiched over to the fireworks in Baltimore on Channel 13, remembering the
"good ol' days" when we would party together until 4 AM on New Year's Eve... That was "BK" - Before Kids". Now our kids are older
than we were in those good ol' days - back in the days when we could only buy gas for the car every other day. Where did the years
go?
Michael Yon was in Afghanistan on New Year's Eve. He has been covering the war in Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004
when he decided to find out what was going on over there for himself. Former Green Beret. Independent journalist.
One of
the best combat reporters of this generation.
It has been pure joy to work with the dedicated luncheon crew of Marine Moms-Bethesda this past year, and I am looking
forward to continuing this same camaraderie with the new additions to our crew in 2010.
I think I can speak for our
crew when I say that we each feel that giving our efforts to this project is worthwhile and rewarding. It is an honor that
we take seriously. Each of us have our own motivation for being involved with Marine Moms-Bethesda, but the bottom line is that we
truly do care.
We fully appreciate, to the extent that we can without having walked in their shoes, the sacrifices that
the men and women we serve have made “just doing their job” (as they say to us) in service to our country, and our hearts go out to
the families we meet while at the hospital. Providing them with a distraction from the daily hospital routine and a home-cooked meal
is the least we can do for them.
The word “grateful” cannot adequately describe how I feel about our "Elfs" - our supporters
- who have helped us to provide the monthly luncheons and to grow our mission from the hospital ward to include the
out-patient barracks at Bethesda, and with their help we will continue to grow.
I am deeply indebted to those of you who are
“behind the scenes”, whose names do not appear on the supporter’s page or on the luncheon pages. I know you have your own special
endeavors; nevertheless you have always taken the time to lend an ear, provide advice, encouragement, or a "hand up” when needed,
and I sincerely appreciate that.
Marine Moms-Bethesda is not a 501(c)3... yet. The gifts given to us by our supporters to help
provide luncheons, gift bags and pantry items are a gift of love. Marine Moms-Bethesda is truly blessed.
As the drawdown
continues to take place in Iraq and the second Afghanistan surge begins, Marine Moms-Bethesda will continue with our luncheons
and our support of the troops and their families at the National Naval Medical Center.
Thank you all very much for your
time, your commitment, and your continued support.
Wishing you and yours the very best in 2010!
January 7, 2010 Staying in touch...
Go
to the link, set an account up, enter the recipient's information, type your note, click send, and it is sent "over there", printed
out, folded up so it's private, and delivered at mail call. Faster than "snail mail" for those times in between care packages
and letters. Nice to know they have this set up for the Soldiers now!
Speaking of notes, if you would like to email a note of support and encouragement to the combat wounded, injured and ill patients
on the hospital ward at Bethesda Naval Hospital, you can send them to
Please
keep the notes upbeat and encouraging.
We will need the notes by the evening of Sunday, January 18th to give us time
to format them and print them out for the Bethesda 5 East luncheon.on January 24th.
Marine Moms-Bethesda has been doing this
every luncheon they've held for the past three years. The hospital ward serves all branches of the military and we ask that the
notes be "generic" since we are unable to guarantee that branch specific notes go to specific patients from specific service branches.
All of the notes are formatted into a word document and packaged into a large envelope and distributed to the patients or their
family members so everyone receives all of the same notes.
This is a nice way to let the troops at Bethesda know they are
appreciated, supported, and not forgotten.
Free to you! The cost for the printer ink and paper is out of the pocket of
the crew member who prints the notes out. It is something we think is important to do... letting the troops know that America
supports them.
From a Marine Moms-Bethesda note writer who is the wife of a retired CPO, USN.