Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Dark of Night - and War?  HECK NO!!!





Early last week, we got an email from Laurie requesting a few things for the next care package.  Since we were between social security checks and a little short on funds, I asked Stephen if he could lend us some $$.  He said "you've paid for nearly all of them - this one is on me."   So, armed with my list and his $$, off to the commissary I went...on a mission.  And I went through the commissary, putting things in my cart and checking them off the list.  In less than 30 minutes, (record time for me and the commissary), I was at the cash register and out.  And except for trying to find my way around the construction detours, NOTHING could dampen my enthusiasm.  I got home, unloaded all the stuff on the counter, and started packing it all in boxes, then changed my mind so Stephen could see everything when he got home from work.  THEN, I started packing and when Laurie Skyped that night to practice Kasey's spelling words with him, I said to her, "mission accomplished - boxes being mailed tomorrow."   And so, when we picked up Kasey from school the next afternoon (10 out of 10 spelling words right for his spelling test that day- AWESOME Kasey!), we went to the post office and mailed two very heavy large flat rate boxes to Kasey's mommy.  I think it's important for Kasey to see the entire process - all the things purchased, (sometimes he goes with us to shop if he's not in school), the packing, and especially the mailing.  It tells him that Mommy is in a place where the everyday things we take for granted are not available to his mommy.  And that's why it's so important to do it.  So when we put the boxes on the counter, the postal clerk said - 7 to 10 days.  But even if it gets to the APO address when it's supposed to, it's up to the Army to get it to her. But the staff at the Post Office know us now and always ask how our girl is.  This may be contrary to some post offices, but here, it's the norm.
Last night we skyped with Laurie again for Kasey's spelling words, and I told her the boxes should be there this weekend - or Monday by the latest.
This morning, I received an email from Laurie - boxes arrived in the hours following our skype conversation, and she was SOOO excited.  Do you KNOW what that does to a mom's heart?  (not to mention how it makes the eyes leak).
And so, I am already  making up the next box - and that will go out tomorrow.  Not so much treats as just stuff that I think will make her smile - catalogs, papers Kasey has done in school, a candle in a patriotic holder - just stuff that will make her smile.  And  pretty soon, it will be cool enough to send chocolate. Now THAT'S what I'm talking about.  :-)
I posted my happiness on FB this morning, and I just read a comment from my good friend Betsy - "how did that happen????"
It's anybody's guess....but I am so thankful.
Good work guys!
And thank you God.

HOOAH - The Cry of the American Warrior Since 1718




So here we are, into our fourth month of Laurie's deployment.   We are doing well, the time going quickly - now that Kasey is back in school.  He's doing well this year (knocking on the wooden table beneath my laptop).  Laurie Skypes at least once a week, and on the first day of school, she called Kasey in the morning before he left for his first day as a big boy in 1st grade.  Last week, she Skyped one night as she began her day and we were wrapping up ours, to help him with his spelling words.  Stephen told Kasey the night before he went back to school, as he was getting all Kasey's things ready, and while I packed his lunch, that being a good boy and doing well in school was his job to do during the time his mommy is away.  We all have our jobs, some easier than others.  But even Kasey knows his job is no less important than any other. 

The 10th anniversary of  9/11 will be here this weekend.  Not something to celebrate, but a day to remember.  But as terrible as that day was, we can give thanks for the American spirit we witnessed every day thereafter.  Ron and I have been watching some of the special interviews aired on National Geo this week - especially we caught President Bush's interview.  I could watch that interview every single day and still not fathom what it must have been like for him as our nation's leader trying to console every single American -especially the families of those who did not survive. 

What I remember that day, as I sat at my desk at the University of Buffalo - I attempted  to process financial aid while so many of our students from NYC stood around the TV in the Student Union wondering if their families were okay knowing that we would be at war soon.  Laurie - and the hundreds of thousands of other American troops had gone from serving in time of peace to a time of war.  She was doing some training in TX - learning about the attacks in bits and pieces from the instructors - and I remembered the young men and women in the NCO leadership class she had graduated with less than a month before - and that some of them were stationed at the Pentagon.  And Scott, at home in Hamburg, was also watching it - knowing that his little sister was about to become more than a soldier.  She would be a warrior.  And now - she IS a warrior. 

And so, the title of this post.  You see, a long time ago, when we were visiting Laurie, she took us to one of those little stores outside the main PX. I love those places - tee shirts, pins, you name it.  Anything the military mom could want.  I found a tee shirt that had a logo on the front - a simple logo that spelled out - Hooah. And on the back, it says "Hooah - the Cry of the American Warrior Since 1718."  It's a shirt that has gone through various times of struggle - Stephen's deployments, Laurie's school and separations from her family, and all the time we have spent with Kasey.  There were times when it didn't fit me due to weight gain, so it sat folded in my drawer.  But having lost the weight, it is a staple in my casual wardrobe.  Most people don't know what the symbol on the front of the tee means - but if they read the back, this Hooah word might ring a bell.

The day after 9/11 I had an eye doctor appt.  I had gone to this doctor for several years. The nurse knew that I was the mom of a soldier, and asked me how I was doing.  She made some notes in my folder as to how the 9/11 attack was affecting me. And then the doctor came in, asked how I was and I said "it's not a very good day to be a military mom."  And he said, "It's about time they do some work."  It took everything in me not to get up and walk away, but I didn't.  I bit my tongue, said nothing to him - and I mean nothing, unless it was about my eyes - and I walked out of that office and never went back.  My own way of saying "Hooah."   When I called and canceled my next appointment a few months later, I told the nurse WHY I was canceling it. She sounded sympathetic and apologized for the pain it must have caused. She asked if I would come back if the doctor apologized and I said no thank you.  Perhaps not very gracious, but I found a new doctor who asked me why I was changing doctors - and I told him why. He didn't know what to say, so he just shook his head and said he was sorry. I appreciated that. We all have our own ways of saying Hooah, don't we?

And so, as I sit here on a chilly Colorado morning, the tee shirt still fits well.  I am about to put on a sweatshirt - I think summer is over here - but  will know that underneath is a tee shirt that announces the warrior's cry.  
To ALL of our American warriors - serving in all branches of the military - HOOAH!!  It's said in various ways depending on the branch you serve in.   I am proud of everyone who wears a uniform.  
It's not just an Army thing - and it's a cry that lets your fellow Americans know that nothing can take away your spirit.

And oh yes, this tee shirt which has been washed SO many times, has never faded.  Not at all.  Just like the spirit of the warriors who cry out the word.  And those who love them. 

God bless our troops - and the America they protect and serve.