A Thankful Heart

The neatly-dressed elderly gentleman sat just over from us in the nearly empty restaurant tonight. It was well after 9:00 PM. Only once or twice did he look up from his plate. From my seat I watched his weathered hands methodically buttering his cornbread. I noted the wedding band on his hand, as well as the table he shared with only his memories. There was such a sadness about him. Here it is, the day after Thanksgiving. Christmas music played softly. Our little foursome chatted happily as we waited for our supper. But time and time again, my gaze went to the gentleman. I could have cried so easily. What could I have said to him? I wanted to ask him to sit with us. I wanted to pay for his meal. I wanted to just give him a big hug! Not knowing just what to do, I asked God to please bless him. I guess I just wanted him to feel in his heart that someone still cares.

How different the atmosphere was just an hour or two earlier. We stood in the middle of the city of Stone Mountain's street party with Mama and "Uncle" Frank, and sang and laughed as we waited for Santa. He arrived atop a firetruck with bagpipers leading the way. The great tree was lit, artificial snow floated in the air, and fireworks lit up the sky. From there we all piled in the red Jeep and went into Stone Mountain Park with the intention of eating there - WRONG! There was a three-hour wait, so we just wandered and shopped and giggled.

We are so very blessed to have the family that we have. There is no reason to be down! You know there is someone who is just a phone call away. I thought a lot about Thanksgivings past, how we'd get to my Mawmaw's house early to help chop celery and other fixins for the meal. The house smelled wonderful, and soon the cousins came piling in. If it was warm, the kids would take their plates onto the big rock for lunch. If it was cold, the big old house just stretched to accommodate us all, no matter how many there were. And we truly never knew quite how many to expect, but there was always plently of food, and plenty of love to go around.

My Mawmaw is gone now, and so are Daddy, Baby Jim, and Uncle Gibo. The house has been sold, and my boys won't share a holiday meal with cousins on the big rock. Thanksgivings have changed as far as the celebration, but the spirit is still there. Mama and I cook, and there always seems to be enough food and enough love to go around with plenty to spare! This year the table fed Mama, the four of us, Granny & Papa, Walt, and Frank. That's another great thing about our family: It isn't just made up of the ones we got stuck with, but also the ones we hand-picked! Walt's been an uncle since I was about seven. Frank has only spent the past three Thanksgivings as an uncle, but his place is firmly cemented in our fruity little family tree! You don't have to spend a holiday alone unless you just want to. Even then, we're going to call you and bring you a plate to your door, so you might as well get off your behind and come on over!

That brings my mind back to the lonely old gent. I hope he has family someplace who love him and let him know he is still so important to them all. I hope there are grandchildren who think Grandpa is just the coolest old guy and plaster his fridge with Crayola masterpieces. I hope he will not dwell on what he has lost, but instead on all the times things were wonderful.

I have requested prayers for babies and little ones many times in the past, but tonight I ask that you remember a lonely stranger, and pray for the peace and perfect love that God can give. Look out at the world with a thankful heart, and, like Mawmaw's house, it will stretch to accommodate as many people as come your way.

Prowling the Woods

I have noticed a trend here lately. My little family has gotten in the habit of running around in the woods in the dark. I tend to stay at the rear of our foursome to round up strays, but Barry says it is just to heckle!

We couldn't have slipped up on any wildlife last night unless it was deaf as a post! We were near the front of the pack, while around 100 of our noisy compadres crashed along behind us. Flashlights swirled all around and up and down in a light show that would make Disney jealous! Once in a while, the ranger would halt the entire line, and get everyone to turn off the lights in order to point out something. Then the whole procession would start up again. I took a bit of dark delight in letting some low-hanging vegetation drag across my jacket and whack the noisy guy behind me. I turned around as sweetly as I could and said, "Oh I am so sorry about that!"

What am I talking about? We spent yesterday afternoon and evening at the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area's Nature Center. The first event worked on Aaron's nature merit badge with the ranger who taught the beginning of it last month. The group of us (1 ranger, 3 boy scouts, 1 cub scout, 4 parents, and 2 little sisters) hiked along the river identifying leaves, bugs, and critters. We found a river otter slide, saw a great blue heron and a bunch of deer, and caught a salamander. Our quiet little group contrasted sharply with the nocturnal herd that flashed and crashed down the same trail later on. Upon returning to the lodge, the boys got to make a bird feeder, which they were very excited about.

After helping the ranger set up tables and chairs, and eating a bite of supper (You may be familiar with that scout staple trail food called Chic-fil-A?), we watched as car after car arrived for the Owl Prowl. You could sit around a campfire and toast marshmallows, color an owl mask or a heron hat, or go upstairs and sip hot cider. Finally the owl program began, and three birds who live at the nature center were brought out. The great horned owl was awesome. He was brought out with a little female screech owl who was just as cute as she could be. The kids got to ask questions and listen to stories about them. The highlight for the kids of course was when both birds decided to do a demonstration of "what goes in must come out." When the program was over I heard lots of kids running excitedly up to their parents asking, "Did you see it poop???" A third owl was brought out about 20 minutes later, and boy was she beautiful. She was a barn owl who had been struck by a car. Due to her injuries she can no longer live in the wild. The boys really liked her and had to go up to the female rangers who cared for her and ask a zillion questions. The ranger then gathered the human flock and led us on the walk on the wild side.

We thawed out our chilly bodies in the warm Jeep on the way home. Daniel promptly crawled into bed to hibernate, while the rest of us talked about our latest adventure in the great outdoors. We can't wait to do it again!

Ft. Stewart Adventure

The day had finally warmed up enough for me to come out of my field jacket. I found myself lying on a stretcher being carried by four soldiers with a medic at my side. All together, they slid me into the helicopter and hoisted my stretcher into the brackets, placing me above one soldier and below another. As I was hauled back out, I squinted up in the bright sun at the second bunch of soldiers and medic who carried me to the field hospital. I could hear the sound of the Chinook warming up a little further down the airstrip. Then I was inside the field hospital with doctors and nurses rushing around, removing my kevlar helmet, hanging IVs, and ordering x-rays. One examined my left arm as he received report of the traumatic amputation I had suffered below the elbow. One shined a flashlight in my eyes, and said, "PFC, is that your real eye color?" I started laughing. I guess he'd never seen gray eyes. My helmet was handed back to me as I was pulled up from the cot and out the door I went. I heard my name and jumped on another stretcher for another trip through the disaster scenario.

Annual training for the Georgia State Defense Force was at Ft. Stewart, Georgia this past weekend. Our convoy arrived late on Friday evening after a 9 hour drive. Why it had taken so long I really have no idea. I have made it in less than 5 on many occasions. We signed in, got our barracks assignment, and carried our gear in. All of the medics had a meeting in one of the male barracks - which was appreciated I'm sure by all the guys - and got our team assignments for the exercise the next day. Finally we climbed into our bunks, closed our eyes for a minute, and got back up for breakfast. It was nice to see so many people from IET again. We gathered our gear and headed for formation, where male and female alike shivered in the morning chill. Then we were loaded onto buses for the trip to Wright Army Airfield. I was assigned to 1st Battalion as one of their two medics, and was the only female in the group. The lieutenant thought I looked cold, took pity on me, and offered me his gloves. Later he found a balaclava, which is like a ski mask, and was going to have me put that on. I respectfully declined. Can you imagine how I would have looked if I had taken it off? My hair would have had so much static I would have looked like a blonde dandelion! I looked funny enough in the heavy kevlar helmet and goggles you had to wear on the airstrip. We all formed up in one long line and walked the strip, picking up any debris that could become airborne under the Chinook's big blades. It was soon discovered that the 12 porta-potties that had been placed there the day before were now gone. Five brigades now had to share ONE bathroom with ONE stall in it! That was fun. The battalion I was assigned to was split into two shifts and I got second. That meant that while first worked, we rested. We dropped our gear in a sunny spot on the grass and everyone kicked back. The guy to my left began to snore, so I propped my head on my helmet and closed my eyes. I was warm in the sun and dozed a little. I kept having weird little mini-dreams filled with bits and pieces of the conversations going on around me along with the air traffic. Finally we were roused for lunch, and then off we went for our turn. We were simulating what occurred with the hurricane evacuations from Katrina and Rita with the help of teens from the National Guard Youth Challenge. They played our evacuees and victims for most of the day. Clark Howard, the financial guy on the radio and TV, is also a member of the GSDF, and he was filming the exercise. If you see someone in ACUs who is a little smaller than most of the other guys, and looks like a mushroom in the helmet, that would be me!

We finally boarded the busses and returned to the main post. Supper was either very good or I was starving! After another meeting at the colonel's quarters for all the medical personnel, I took a minute to fill Barry and Granny in on the day. She had a lot to tell Mrs. Lucille tonight! I finally took a long hot shower and crawled in my bunk. Sunday morning we got up and went to breakfast. Then we had to clean the barracks and put our gear in the vehicles. We had a big formation and marched across the parade field to the chapel for JAG briefings. The first JAG major up there informed us that Saddam Hussein had been found guilty and sentenced to hang by a jury of his own people. A loud "HOOAH" went up. Maybe he'll finally get the idea that he is no longer in power now! We were really packed in for the rest of the briefings, and I kept almost dozing off. I sure am glad I was in the back! They concluded by showing the new Army Strong recruiting commercial. Barry had already shown it to me, but it still brought tears to my eyes with the line "there is nothing on this green earth stronger than a US Army Soldier!" That received the loudest HOOAH of all.

Finally we were in the vehicles and headed back to Atlanta. I was tasked with getting our convoy out the back gate of Ft. Stewart and through the tank ranges to the interstate since I'd been there before. Ha ha. Why on earth did they really want to follow a slightly sleep-deprived natural blonde? I had already warned them that the road was long and through the middle of nowhere, so at least they didn't think I'd totally gotten them lost. We didn't end up quite where I thought, but it was at the interstate. Only the female PFC I was riding with knew that I had begun to pray and worry that I'd look like an idiot! The rest just said, "Boy, I'm sure glad you knew where we were!" If they only knew!!!!

Barry picked up the boys from his dad's house and called to see where I was. I had already retrieved my vehicle and was headed home. We decided to meet at Cracker Barrel for supper. Before we could even be seated, a lady came up and handed us a $25 gift card and thanked us for our service. It really is humbling when that happens, although the kids just think it is cool to sit there with the two of us! We ended up paying less than $2 out of pocket for our meal!

It is an honor to serve, even in a small way. It is an honor to wear the uniform. I love this country,and this gives me a way to do something without having to sacrifice my family's well-being. My children will only be little once. Barry can't say no if he is called, but I have that option if needed. It is, however, good to know that I can make a difference.