Past Luncheons – October 29, 2009
 |
Ghosties
and
Goblins
and
Treat Bags,
OH MY! |
This
close to Halloween we just had to have a party!
Entertainment
was provided by Mr. Owl bouncing on the pumpkin and flapping his wings
while singing “ting-tang-walla-walla bing-bang…”, and Mummy Cat howling
“Who let the dogs out, WHO who who? Who let the dogs out....” while
the Very Scary Monsters (crafted by Miss Kathie’s K-2 kindergarten
class from St. Peter and Paul’s Elementary School)
guarded the trick or treat bags.
The table
was chock full of food.
Grace
served up the soup and the barbecue
and
Wendy the Witch made sure everyone took some veggies
before
they could have dessert.
It amazes
me that Jess can set up in the middle of the room and do her massages
as if there is nothing else going on around her. Before she had her
chair set up there were people waiting for a massage.
OH, that
reminds me! There is a piece written about her in the November issue
of “Allure” magazine! One of their reporters went around to different
spas in major cities to sample massages and Jess was one of the ones
sampled.
Congratulations
Jess! Way to Go!
Last month
when we were at Mercy Hall I learned that the guys like to take the
leftovers back to their rooms for their “stash”, so this time instead
of disposable cameras and things like that, we took snack food – nuts,
microwaveable soups, chips, popcorn and … Peeps. Who doesn’t like
Peeps?
Susan
quickly learned how to operate the Vitamix and NO one was allowed
to say no to a smoothie!
And I
mean NO one. I saw her with my own eyes chasing Marines down with
them.
We had
special goblets for them, too. Very cool.
Found them in the Dollar Store.
Elizabeth handed out the trick or treat bags,
the support notes, and the beaded campaign ribbons that Cathy made
for the guys. Can you tell
she’s a Marine Mom?
Love the
t-shirt!
After
the luncheon she and I went up to 5 East
and visited with a wounded Warrior from her son’s former unit.
One of
the Marines we met who had served in Afghanistan
gave me the scoop on care packages. I asked him what they really,
REALLY liked in them.
At first
he said, “Anything!” I said, “Aw c’mon… there must be some things
that you like more than others. He thought for a minute and then he
said, “Well, for Marines - canned food, any kind of canned food. Chunky
soups, Chef Boyardee… We can take the tops off and set them on the
truck and heat them up. OH! And tobacco, any kind
of tobacco. Even if the guys don’t use it they can barter with
it.”
Then I
asked him what not to send. He told me that chips arrived all crunched
up, even the ones in the cans. He also said everything is iPods and
MP3’s now so often, there is no way to play music CDs.
I guess
it just depends where they are based. Some of the guys in ‘stan are
in very remote, primitive places.
It’s a
busy, busy place on the weekdays there. We met the Chaplain that lives
in the barracks. This is new, having him living right there with the
guys. One of the Marines we had met on the 18th in the hospital has
moved over to the barracks, so that was good to know. Nice seeing
him again, too! We recognized many of the guys who were there from
past luncheons. It was all good.
When we
were walking out the door to come home I saw Mummy Cat and Mr. Owl
being adopted by two Marines. I knooooooooow they are going to good
homes.
Wonder
what they did for Halloween…?
Many,
MANY “Thanks!” to everyone who helped make the luncheon be the success
it was!
===============
We will
be back on the hospital ward on November 8th for a luncheon,
and then again at Mercy Hall on December 3rd.
On Dec.
3rd, we are doing “Holiday Cheer at Bethesda”.
If you would like to send handwritten holiday and Christmas cards
to all of the combat wounded in-patients and out-patients at Bethesda, there is more information here.
Hurry, though!!! Time is running out! The new postmark date is Nov.
10th and we will be screening the cards on Nov. 15th.
There
are guidelines for sending cards on the “Holiday Cheer at Bethesda” webpage. Please read them before sending
cards. And please, NO GLITTER. One little eensy-weensy glitter piece
can get into an open wound and cause secondary infections. We’re not
taking any chances of that happening with our Heroes.
===============
If you
would like to send a note of encouragement and support for the wounded,
injured, and ill combat troops on the hospital ward or in the out-patients
barracks you can
email
them to “ notes4bethesda @ marinemoms-bethesda.org “ (Remove spaces
around the @ sign. I leave the spaces to keep those robot spammer
thingies from picking up the address.)
We will
print them out and hand-deliver them for you.
A quick
FYI about the notes – For security reasons, we do not pass on offers
of care packages or pen pal requests. We do not promote other organizations
in these notes. We cannot deliver to specific people and everyone
that day gets a packet with all the same notes. However, if you know
someone who is a patient at Bethesda, we can do our best to say “Hello”
to them for you.
The sole
purpose of the encouragement notes is to say:
“Thank
you! We appreciate your service to our country!”
And we
do!
Until
next time, continued prayers for our military and their families.
Love and
Hugs,
Thank
you for a great luncheon, Ladies!
