Hi,
Hubby and I have been busy! Hubby doing all the labor( Have I told you I have the bestest hubby in the world) and me supervising! The front porch is decorated, the red bricks chips have been put out, and the flowers and plants have started growing in the front flower beds. I planted lots of flower seeds that are coming up but I do miss the punch of color out there so I may break down and go buy some red, white, and blue flowers to plant in the planters on the porch and I need to get some hanging baskets for the front porch!
I have also changed out all the inside decorations to my Americana collections! I am a crazy American and Patriotic collector! I love the red, white, and blue. I started decorating the Monday after Easter and I am still finding things I forgot to put out. So, I am always tweaking my displays. I hope to get at good at displaying my collections as some of my blogging friends. I will share the inside pictures tomorrow. Since this would be a really heavy photo post if I did it all in one post!
I hope you all have a blessed day!
Hugs,
Lynn
If I can share anything with you that you will remember me for it is my passion and appreciation for our service members and their families. When my son joined the Army is 2006 and was deployed to Afghanistan in 2007 where he served for 15 months our lives here on earth and our son as we had known him were forever changed! I beg you to pray for our soldiers still fighting in Afghanistan today. I beg you to pray for the families here at home. I beg you to pray for our wounded warriors and their families. I beg you to pray for our elected officials as they deal with the problems at the VA! Please pray! I will share with you that when my son was deployed I felt so guilty eating a hot meal, going out shopping, going out to eat, taking a hot bath or shower, talking on the cell phone, going to the kitchen to get a snack when I wanted to, getting online anytime I wanted to or needed to, having a cook out, celebrating holidays, and just living every day life because you see for 15 months if he didn't get back to his base in time after a patrol or mission, he didn't have a hot meal, he couldn't take a shower whenever he wanted to. The night we got a call at 1am and he asked me if I had mailed him a care package I said of course you have several on the way, he asked me if I had sent baby wipes and I said no I didn't, he said Mom, please go get me some, I haven't had a bath in 4 days and I stink and you know I can't stand to stink. After that phone call and me, his dad, and sister sobbing like babies, we left to go to Walmart at 2am. We bought baby wipes in bulk and went home packed them up and was up in time to take them to the PO early Sat. morning to ship them off. His barracks where he slept was a good long walk to the mess hall, their were no stores on his base or any of the bases in Afghanistan at that time. They could shop at the locals market but they didn't have items soldiers needed. I started asking for and collecting supplies from friends, family, and anyone else I could think of and I shipped box after box of supplies to the chaplain on the base to hand out to the soldiers. I was Mama Spence to my son and his friends and I loved these guys that had been together since basic training. I do not know if things have gotten better on the bases since 2007 but I pray they have. I continued to support the unit that took my son's unit place in 2008 and 2009. My name and email was given to the new chaplain and he emailed me and told me he had heard how hard I worked and what types of packages I had managed to send and he hoped I would keep it up. So I did, I would go and talk to local groups and churches and tell them about the soldiers and what they needed. Then I would pray that we would get the items and the money to ship them. The new chaplain built like a little general store and he would put out all the items we sent him and the soldiers could come and get items as they needed them. When he left Afghanistan in 2009 I lost contact with him and I never heard from another chaplain. I had major set backs with my health in 2009 and I wouldn't have been able to be the go getter I once was. I didn't do it for praise , I just knew there was a need and I wanted to help out. Like I said earlier our family has been forever changed, my daughter says her brother died on April 22, 2007 the day he left to go back to Italy before he deployed the first week in May for Afghanistan. The man that returned from war isn't my son that left our home on April 22, 2007. The battles that he has to battle each time he closes his eyes to try to sleep is something that we can not understand, he can't sleep in a room with a door open, you do not put your hands on him to wake him up, you see they are still soldiers, they were hunted 24/7 by the enemy, just because they are home doesn't mean their mind knows they are not being hunted anymore. I pray daily for my son and his fellow soldiers that are battling these battles. I pray that the VA will recognize that this is a huge issue and yes the soldiers have issues with the PTSD name. They have this because of what they had to endure in service to our country. The shouldn't be labeled like this, I applaud President Bush's effort to get the name changed because it was an acquired disease as a result of battle. So, please Thank A Soldier this patriotic time of year! I purchased that sign off of Etsy in 2007 and I display it proudly each and every summer. God Bless the USA and all those that are serving and have served and their families!
I love my country front porch and I thank my hubby several times a week for building it and for hauling home all the junk that I love to put on display out there. And yes, like the rest of our home, the decorations on the porch get changed out for each season and holiday! Summer and Americana are two of my favorite ways to decorate!
4 comments:
The tears are starting. I can so relate to this. My son was also in Afghanistan for the same amount of time. Before this deployment he was in Bosnia for a year. People would say when he was in Afghanistan, "At least he's not in Iraq." It is so true, your life as a parents stops. It's hard to go forward. I know my DIL (his wife) were talking. Something triggered the thought of a POW to me. I ended up with chest pains and was admitted to the hospital later that evening. That is how hard this is for a parent. You can't celebrate. You are sad and worried all the time. You feel so bad for them. Our son was adopted by a church in another state that randomly got his name. That church sent unbelievable care packages.....expensive things. He would pass them out to all of his buddies. We sent packages as well. When he came home both times he was stationed in Hawaii. Yes, sounds lovely if you were actually there and not deployed. We didn't get to be there when he got home to the states. We had a banner and our family gathered at the gate when he returned to our hometown. It wasn't the same. I couldn't quit hugging him. Our DIL would call and say she was worried about our son. He acted differently. So untrusting. Checking out everything that moved. He didn't suffer like your son has. His job now somewhat a repeat of what he did but on a different scale. I watch his children. When he got home last night and stepped out of the car he was covered in red. Looked like blood. I about passed out. He was in training and it was fake blood. The look on his 5 and 7 year old children was awful. I think he had planned returning while I was taking them to practice but we were late. I'm saying this because he is still serving but not with the military. We have to support our military and our in the states people that serve. Just now President Obama addressed the VA situation. Let's hope we get to the bottom of this. Our children are coming home wounded and scared mentally. I know how your heart feels.
Oh, I do love all your patriotic decorations and that porch.
God Bless your son.
Longest comment ever.
Wonderful post Lynn! Although I don't understand always what we are fighting for these men and women go and do what they are told by the government to protect us. So thankful for them
Lynn,
Thank you for posting about your son and his struggles after serving bravely for our country. My FIL is retired army and has suffered from the Gulf War syndrome for years now. We truly believe that it was the experimental drugs that were given to all the service men in case they were exposed to chemical agents. He's now in a nursing home and it's been just heart wrenching to watch him just wasting away.
Donna
Such a heart-felt post. I've been wiping away tears. God bless your son and all that serve our country. Your patriotic decorations and special porch are just wonderful. I can see why you would want to sit out there all day long. Such a special place for respite.
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