Our Year in Review ... Part I

Already over a week into 2013 ... oh my but where did 2012 go?  As I look forward to what lies ahead, I have to also look back to see God's design to bring our family to another New Year. So, here's our highlights of each month with some pictures to follow along.

January ~~ 'Joe was deployed & our household was getting ready for our little prince. Lucy & her Mommy were spending time together in anticipation of Tag's appearance ... 

as well as making 'Joe care package crafts & introducing Tag to our local library where Lucy spent each week at storytime.  ETA on the arrival of Thomas Alexander -- February 21st (we'll see if Mommy makes it that long :)

February ~~  Thomas Alexander "Tag" made his appearance on February 9th at 6am ... Grandad got Mrs. 'Joe to the hospital & settled by 3:30am, and after 2 1/2 hours of hard labor & natural childbirth, Tag was here!  Lucy & I made it to the hospital a few hours later, then G-G and Grandpa drove an hour and a half to see their great-grandson (and great-granddaughter of course).  Mrs. 'Joe finally got through via the Red Cross to 'Joe's overseas' base.  And a bit later he called to talk to her & Lucy.  Not much longer until he could get leave to come home for a couple of weeks ... or so we thought...

Mrs. 'Joe celebrated her birthday on February 13th by taking Tag to the doctor for a 

minor newborn issue.  And Lucy (umm, "Snow White") decorated a "chocolate-chip cookie cake" for Mommy's special day.

Then came the phone call ... 

on February 20th  ('Joe's birthday) his base had come under attack and 'Joe had been wounded in action ... no limbs lost ... shattered jaw ... deep shrapnel wounds ... 
he was alive.

'Joe was then transported to a couple different hospital bases in Afghanistan then on to Germany then finally to Walter Reed Military Medical Center. On Sunday February 26  Mr. & Mrs. Joe were reunited ... Lucy got to see her Daddy and Tag met his Daddy for the first time.

March ~~ Our traveling had just just begun.  Thankfully we are within driving distance of WRMMC.  What started out as a 2 to 4 week rehabilitation period within the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU) at WR, actually turned into a 5 month period with more rehabilitation to follow.   So ...

Mrs. 'Joe and Tag came home for a few days to help us celebrate Grandad's 50th birthday! 
(I still can't believe that the 22 year old boy I married is actually 50 years old now!!)









 Then Mrs. 'Joe & Tag went back to the Fisher House at WRMMC while Lucy stayed with us & we commuted back & forth giving her time to spend with her family both at home and at the Fisher House. 




April ~~ Lucy & I helped G-G celebrate her birthday a couple of days early. She & I drove to G-G and Grandpa's house for a fun birthday time on Saturday April 7th.  We had a fun time as Lucy hunted for Easter eggs and even got a special Easter basket from G-G and Grandpa (and they even had Tag one too!) ... and cousin Rachel even came over to see her little cousin!

    

Before Lucy & I went back to the Fisher House on Easter Sunday, we had a nice brunch with Grandad at The Cheesecake Factory and then he went to work. (He had made it through most of his busy season pretty much on his own since I was traveling a bit.) So, unfortunately, none of us went to church on Easter, but we feel sure that God understands where our hearts were. If it weren't for His Son's sacrifice on the cross & rising to life on the 3rd day, we would not have been able to have survived the life-altering journey that we've been on for almost a year. 

May ~~ After Grandad's busy time at work was over, he was able to make trips with Lucy & me back & forth to the Fisher House on the weekends. Then in late April / early May, we all took a few days to go the Beach! This was Tag's first beach trip & the first time 'Joe was away from WRMMC overnight since he arrived in February. 
We had so much fun! 

Lucy and I were a little sick in mid-May -- right on mine & Grandad's 28th anniversary. So, she & I stayed home that week so that we wouldn't spread our germs at the Fisher House. After a day or so, we were completely better & decided to surprise Grandad with some homemade anniversary cookies! As you can see, we had as much fun making them as eating them (and Grandad had the fun of eating!)

 

(PS ... Grandad absolutely LOVES every cookie that Lucy bakes.  And he especially loved his surprise anniversary cookies!)


*** And then we got the final word ... ***

'Joe was getting leave to come home over Memorial Day weekend~~
his first time home since pre-deployment!!!!

So, we had a little Open House in appreciation for our family & friends within the community. Some new friends came whom we had never even met before, but they had been praying for 'Joe & the family and just wanted to come by. It was an awesome, God-inspired weekend!

Which brings us to ...


June ~~  The 'Joe family was really getting involved with the Wounded Warrior family activities at Walter Reed ... 

Washington Zoo

a private tour of the White House

 Army Birthday Ball












On the homefront ... Hurricane Debby's effects ...
(thankfully our electric came back on after 24 hours -- 
no electric means no running water in our house):

 

Okay ... I'm ready for a break.  I've made it to June, and will have to continue the second half of our year in review in another post.  But, one thing is for certain ... 


only God could have brought us through 2012 ... 
and only God will see us through 2013 ... 

 

A Voice Within the Silent Ranks

 The Silent Ranks

Author Unknown

I wear no uniforms, no blues or army greens

But I am in the Army in the ranks rarely seen.

I have no rank upon my shoulders - salutes I do not give

But the military world is the place where I live.

I'm not in the chain of command, orders I do not get

But my husband is the one who does, this I can not forget.

I'm not the one who fires the weapon, who puts my life on the line

But my job is just as tough, I'm the one that's left behind.

My husband is a patriot, a brave and prideful man

And the call to serve his country not all can understand.

Behind the lines I see the things needed to keep this country free

My husband makes the sacrifice, but so do our kids and me.

I love the man I married, Soldiering is his life

But I stand among the silent ranks known as the Army Wife.

I follow several military spouses on Facebook & my blog roll.  (As of now, all the spouses are wives) She is a warrior herself who stands beside her husband-in-uniform and serves our country alongside of him.  She keeps the home-front while her soldier is out in the field ... whether deployed overseas or deployed stateside (unaccompanied orders) ... or stationed on a military base anywhere ... no matter the rank, no matter the branch, no matter the assignment.  She & her fellow mil-spouses are "the silent ranks".

Silent

no rank, no orders, no MOS

Silent  

Yet ... numerous times they have to be heard.  They must be the voice of their soldier & their family.  They are on the front-lines.  I've said it before & I will repeat ... I want these ladies to have my back.  When they hear the words "you are so strong"  --- they may look confused, in disbelief, or taken aback.  Most of them do not see themselves as we "outsiders" see them.  Nevertheless (in Granny's opinion), they are strongest people on the face of the earth ... along with their military kids.

I've given you some insight into our family and especially everything that's been happening since last Easter ... Mrs. Joe's miscarriage, Joe's deployment, Tag's birth, the explosion, Walter Reed.  As you can imagine, our daughter has been busy (to put it mildly) over these past 6 months so has only posted a couple of times since Tag's birth.  Well, now that their family is settling back in at home, she is blogging again with updates from these past months.  

Below is the link to her "Part One" post reliving the first days & hours of hearing of her soldier being wounded in action.  Now, there is "Part Two", so be sure to link into her overall blog after you read "Part One".  You will find an amazing story of what she felt and had to deal with just 11 days after giving birth to her baby boy ... the son whose Daddy  was supposed to meet when he came home for leave within a matter of days.  And she had to hold it together for their 3 1/2 year old daughter who was doubly ecstatic over her baby brother & anxious for "my Daddy the soldier" to come home from his work to spend time with her.  So much to process ... so much to absorb ... so much to hold together.  And yes, one of the strongest people I know.  

I know that she would love to have you stop by & read about her family.  Feel free to leave her a message & let her know that her Mommy sent you.  She definitely is one of a kind.  And her Daddy & I are so proud of the woman that God has lead her to be.  

Our daughter ... Mrs. G. I. Joe

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus: The slow descent...Part 1: This is my first attempt at "filling in the gaps." Everything that happened after my first post about the explosion is mostly a blur. But ...

Friday The 13th ... Welcome Home

Friday the 13th always comes with warnings ... 

Beware

Caution

Watch out!

Well, not in our household ... 

Friday the 13th brought a special delivery for Lucy:

Mommy ... and Daddy ... and Tag came home!!!!

Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here's several thousand words to describe 

Friday the 13th of July 2012 in our household ... 

A Different Wednesday

This is a different Wednesday for Lucy & her Granny.  Normally we are either on the road ... going to or coming from Walter Reed ...or Granny is catching up on laundry, house cleaning & grocery shopping if Lucy is with her family ... or we are getting Lucy's suitcase ready for her to spend time with her family ... or we're getting mine & Grandad's suitcase ready for a long weekend at the Navy Lodge.  
For the past 4 1/2 months our weeks have centered around going ... coming ... traffic ... packing ... traveling ... traffic ... construction ... North ... South ... traffic ... 
you can kind of get the picture.

But today is a different Wednesday for Lucy & her Granny.

"This day is a stay at home day, Granny!" 

So, 
no going ... no coming ... no traffic ... 
no packing ... no traveling ...  no traffic ... 
no construction ... no North ... no South ... 
no traffic!

Not even to go to McDonald's for a Happy Meal ... 

not even to go to Target or Wal Mart ... 

not even to go to Walter Reed.

Lucy is on a "special countdown" this week:  
Mommy, Daddy and Tag are coming home on Friday!!! 
As in "Daddy is released from Walter Reed outpatient & is now in-processing into his community wounded warrior unit" this week.

The 'Joe family can now live at home ... TOGETHER ... while 'Joe continues his therapy to get back to "pre-explosion" health.  It's still going to be a long road ahead for all of them.  But we hope & pray that this will be the best for their family. 

Of course it's going to bring its own set of issues & challenges for them ... but 'Joe is determined to get back to the field of duty to be with his fellow patriots defending our Constitution & our great country.  We've seen this in so many of our wounded warriors:
they want to rehabilitate --
 get their health back -- 
get back to active duty.  
They are warriors who live, eat & breathe the patriotism of the uniform they wear. 

Throughout our time knowing 'Joe (about 12 years now) and his 6 1/2 years in our family, we've heard numerous times 

"I am my uniform ... I am an American soldier." 

So ...

 God-speed in your full recovery & rehabilitation, American Soldier. 
Our family and our country awaits your return to active duty to defend & protect our country and the Constitution of the United States of America. 

Has It Really Been FOUR Months????

On February 19th our son-in-law was looking forward to coming home for R & R to meet his 10 day old son & reunite with his wife (our daughter) & their 3 1/2 yr old daughter.  However, in the morning hours of February 20th, the 'Joe's became a Wounded Warrior Family.  What began as an estimated couple of weeks at Walter Reed has turned in to a 4 month stay with continued rehabilitation for 'Joe.  Although Mrs. Joe hasn't been able to post much over these months, here's a link to her latest blog post regarding their upcoming homecoming ... 

ACU's, Stiletto Shoes, and Pretty Pink Tutus: We're still here...

And now ... some updates on our little grands ... 

Tag is growing up a storm!  He is 4 1/2 months old and quite our little man ... his little smiles that reach from his little mouth to his beautiful blue eyes ... he is most definitely the "little man" of Walter Reed.  

And Lucy ... ahhhhhhhhh. She spends a few days a week with Granny & Grandad, then a few days a week with her Mommy, Daddy & baby brother.  Everybody at Walter Reed LOVES it when Lucy visits!  She truly brightens everybody's days on the campus. 

Grandad & I know that when they get home, 'Joe will have about another year of rehabilitation ... then back to the call of duty.  We treasure the time we get to spend with our kids & our grandkids. We've spent the past couple of weekends visiting with them, having fun and helping out. 

Here's the highlight of Father's Day weekend ...

     

Lucy is looking forward to her Daddy, Mommy & baby brother coming home to stay ... 

although we know she will miss her friends at Walter Reed & the Fisher House ... 

it's moments like this that we've treasured over these past 4 months.  

Our grandkids ... 

our heroes ... 

our hearts ...

Part of Me Stayed

I've made this trip countless times ... with Lucy and my husband.  Driving to what seems like has truly become more like "home".  The staff at the Navy Lodge know me by sight & we always do a little catch-up when I come back.  Sometimes it's every week ... week and a half ... or two weeks.  

But it just seems like home now.  If not "home" then definitely my second "home".  

From the first time we made the journey when 'Joe came back to the States ... til now ... there's a sense of "family" on the Walter Reed campus.  As I look around & soak it all in ... every single person who is on this campus is there for a reason. 

Even the very youngest among everyone is there for a reason.  From the newborn & his 3 year old sister whose Daddy was injured in an explosion ... yes, my precious grandchildren. Tag was 11 days old ... and Lucy knew that Daddy got "boo-boos at work" ...

 To the unborn baby whose parents were transferred in order to get their precious unborn daughter the medical treatment she needs to even survive ...

To the parents awaiting their son to wake up from his coma after suffering a 

traumatic brain injury ...
To the young man who lost his leg in 2006 and is still undergoing surgeries ...
To the young family whose husband, Daddy, son, son-in-law, brother, cousin, friend was injured by an IED and is now a quadruple amputee.

Everyone is there for a reason.

I stand in awe of these families. They are amazing people ... my heroes.

If you are looking for a place to become involved ... a place to volunteer ... a place to pray for ... 

I encourage you to consider our military community. 

Military spouses serve alongside their loved ones by holding down the home-front -- sometimes alone, sometimes with children, sometimes with extended family.

Military children serve our country as well. They sacrifice time with their Daddies, Mommies, loved ones so that other children are given the same opportunities that they have.

Yesterday when I left the Walter Reed campus with Grandad & Lucy ... 

A part of me stayed behind.

And part of me will always be there.