Past Luncheons – June 28, 2008
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The
stars at night,
Are big and bright,
Deep in the Heart of Texas… |
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And so are their families, at least the
one we met at the latest MarineMoms-Bethesda luncheon was.
The men hung out with us Moms for most of
the luncheon waiting for their Marine to come out of surgery
and the women came in toward the end of the luncheon.
Wonderful family and so supportive of their Marine. “OUR
HERO” t-shirts that the girls had made and were wearing.
All were wearing a button with his picture on it.
Granddad – 20 years in the Navy and no tattoos when
he retired – said he came close to getting one once,
back in the 60’s, but his friend went first and he
had sobered up before it was his turn… and then…
he got two just before his grandson deployed, one for him
and one for his Marine.
Dad with a brand new “high and tight” and he
said it will stay that way until his son comes home, has
the appointment already set up with the barber back home
for every week until then.
Mom is very connected online to other moms from her son’s
unit, and she looks like she could be the Marine’s
sister, not his mother.
Scrapbook pictures taken.
Each one of them SO PROUD of their Marine.
Their hearts are as big as Texas, too.
Gentlemen – A huge “Thank You” from us
Moms.
We had been asked to see if we could visit
with a Marine who arrived there a few days ago and we did.
He came down, had a smoothie with us, and chatted with the
Texans for awhile. He’s receiving LOTS of support
from people all over the country. The Corporal says he’s
ready to head back over there as soon as the docs say he
can. These Marines – I can’t say enough good
about them. Oh… this Tennessee Marine now has a jar
of that Tennessee honey we keep on hand.
I’m glad I had an extra jar for him.
The jar that we had opened for the table was given to a
sweet little girl who I saw drizzling honey over some biscuits.
Some of the honey was poured into a bowl, so I gave her
the jar with the rest of it and a bag of biscuits to take
back with her.
Then there was the mom and daughter from
Ohio, just in the night before to be with their Marine and
the airlines had lost their bags. Bummed. Hopefully by now
they have their luggage. These are just a few who came into
the luncheon Saturday.
We loaded everyone up with gift bags and
t-shirts, and we gave the moms and wives a special bag just
for the ladies with the Arbonne goodies in it that Ann and
Friends had sent us last winter. Sometimes I am such a dork…
tried giving a bottle of Arbonne shaving gel to a Marine’s
Dad… he was about 8 feet tall, and he looked down
at me and said, “Now do you really think I need that?”
heh. Yeah... he had a beard. But he said his son would enjoy
it.
Instead of leaving the pantry items in the
pantry, we put them in the gift bags this time. Now these
gift bags, what a hoot…. Marine Mom Karen sent them
to us. Open the flap and *surprise!* Music plays. Perfect
size for what we were doing and we had fun with them - from
Deb’s husband playing along with them as I was filling
them Friday night, to one of the bags playing in the elevator
on the way up to the hospital floor, to the families getting
a kick out of them.
Sandie from Alabama sent bags especially
for the chaplains to hand out when they make their rounds.
I left those in the Liaison’s office for the Chaplains
to pass out..
We had crockpot meals this time. Meatballs
and kielbasa in tomato sauce with peppers and onions in
one, with rolls to make subs; Italian chicken in another
with rice as side to go with it, cheese, olives, pepperoni
and crackers platter, potato salad, deviled eggs, chips,
fruit bowl, cookies and Danishes, smoothies, soda, and fruit
juice. I didn’t take a picture of the table before
we began serving, people were hungry and ready to eat. One
of those Marine Elves sent the embroidered logo to us and
I had it framed for the food table. The Irises represent
Honor and Valor in honor of those we do this for –
the OEF/OIF combat vets.
Robin made up a sign for us to hang on the
doorway and we attached the list of the day’s luncheon
sponsors to it. The picture’s below. We like people
to know who has helped us. They make the luncheons and all
we do possible and we appreciate everyone’s help so
much. Thank you. And many thanks to the Liaison staff who
allow us to do the luncheons. There are some links below
the picture.
Until
next time,
Love and Hugs,
And
then there’s more…
Surfing around for Texas clip art, I found
this from TexasOnline, the state’s website.
It has information for Texas veterans.
http://www.texasonline.com/portal/tol
“My Brothers, Your Sons”
If you haven’t seen it, there is a tribute to some
2/7 Marines here.
A Florida group supporting the Marines in
Iraq and Afghanistan is here.
We were able to meet a Marine they are supporting and pass
on their well-wishes to him.
One of the things I am hearing repeatedly
from guys who have deployed and come home is that the news
does NOT cover the GOOD things happening “over there”.
I found this:
A local soldier in Iraq writes to his hometown Georgia newspaper.
http://www.thomastontimes.com/articles/2008/06/16/news/local1.prt
For the stay-at-home-moms
http://www.happyhousewivesclub.com/
There is also a special section here for military wives
as well as all kinds of other things.
That’s it for this month.
Oh – in case you were wondering –
NO we did not get lost this time!
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