…except when your son is recovering from a crushed pelvis and other injuries acquired while training Iraqis in house-clearing and half of the house fell on him – third deployment.
Or your son returns home on leave safely after two deployments over there and then is involved in a very serious car accident at home.
Or you’re the girlfriend who flew in from far away Continue reading August 23, 2008 – 5th Floor: Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…
And so are their families, at least the one we met at the latest MarineMoms-Bethesda luncheon was.
The men hung out with us Moms for most of the luncheon waiting for their Marine to come out of surgery and the women came in toward the end of the luncheon.
Wonderful family and so supportive of their Marine.
“OUR HERO” t-shirts that the girls had made and were wearing.
All were wearing a button with his picture on it. Continue reading June 28, 2008 – 5th Floor
A few days after our March luncheon, I asked the Moms what they thought about changing the venue of the luncheons. We had met a Marine who hung out with us that day and learned he lived in Mercy Hall while waiting for his medical discharge.
“Mercy Hall? Where’s that”
“Over there.”
We peeked out the window.
“How many of you guys are over there?”
“I’m not exactly sure, somewhere around…”
Wheels began spinning in our minds…
It was a unanimous vote – let’s see if they’ll allow us in Mercy Hall for a luncheon.
Spring Has Sprung!And we turned this:
into this:
A cheery springtime luncheon – chicken salad, ham and roast beef wraps, jello salad, deviled eggs, chips and dips, pasta salad, pickles, turnovers, cookies, cheesecake, peach tea, soda, and smoothies.
Flowers by Brenda! Continue reading March 28, 2008 – 5th Floor
Just Hangin’ OutRunning a few minutes late I arrived at Deb’s in time to join her for leftover ziti and a big salad for lunch Saturday. We started preparing for our Sunday luncheon with the grocery shopping trip that afternoon. Deb and I grabbed our two carts and headed into Costco with The List, printed on card stock ‘cause I’m out of printer paper. My printer says I’m out of printer ink, too, but I think it lies… been printing with it for a month now since the lights have been blinking.
The List is divided into sections: Continue reading January 27, 2008 ~ 5th Floor
and had all of your taste buds suddenly attacked by delectable, lip-smacking smells? Mmm hmmm…
That’s exactly how it was Saturday when you walked into the room after the Moms got the soup crockpots set up and the grilled cheese skillet going. Continue reading December 29, 2007 – 5 East Luncheon & Operation Santa at the Hospitals
But first an FYI:
New Amputee Care Center Opens at Walter Reed on September 13, 2007.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47432 (link removed 4/2/2021. It redirects to the DoD website. Copy and paste into your URL bar and check it out. Lots of stuff there!)
===
I had a late start heading over to Deb’s Saturday. See… there was this pasta salad I wanted to make that morning for the luncheon on Sunday. It turned out to be more of an event than I thought it would be. Took all morning and half of the afternoon…. It was absolutely worth it, though. GOOD stuff.
Oh… Yeah… the yellow card… It says:
“Pasta Salad”
And under that, it says:
“Marines ONLY look inside”
You had to be there to know what it said.
And you had to be a Marine. Continue reading September 30, 2007 – 5 East
Thinking all was set in stone for our August luncheon, an out-of-state friend bought a plane ticket for the trip east so she could attend August’s luncheon with us, check in on her son’s buddy, and spend time relaxing with Janelle and me. Exciting!!!
The last time we had seen each other was the weekend of homecoming 2006 and we were really looking forward to seeing each other again. She was going to come in on Thursday evening, we would spend Friday with Janelle shopping and sight-seeing, Saturday at the hospital, and she would fly home in the wee hours of Sunday morning. WOO HOO Susan was coming for a visit!
A few hours later, the phone rings, and… uh oh… the luncheon’s date had to be switched to Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday. Mad scramble to switch tickets around – yeah – you know the feeling… gotta love those airlines. 😉
Long story short, Susan still has her ticket and we’ll see her after the first of the year. In the end, after a whole lot of “Semper Gumbyness”, everything turned out wonderful and that’s what counts.
We spent Saturday afternoon shopping and that evening putting the gift bags together as Mother Nature entertained us with one of the more awesome thunder storms of the season. We arrived at the hospital, did a cart safari and then Janelle and a Marine headed upstairs with the first load of goodies while Deb and Jean unloaded more stuff. Poor Jean… her first visit with us and it looks like she is wondering where in the world we are going to put everything. 🙂
It’s been a hot summer here in Merryland and smoothies seemed to be a good idea for something different on the menu. Deb brought her Vita-Mix, the Mother of All Blenders, with her and spent the afternoon making them up to order.
Hula Girls had been requested.
I can’t seem to figure the settings out on my new camera though… this picture is most definitely outta whack…
Ya know you’re gettin’ old when the Docs look the same age as your kids, right?
We always invite the medical staff in for lunch when they peek in the door and a few doctors stopped by on a break to fill their plates and chat with us for a few minutes.
Miracle Workers is the name that comes to my mind.
Angels on Earth.
Our Marines are in excellent hands.
A lot of really good things took place Sunday. It was a good feeling having the room looking cheerful and festive for the patients and their families when they walked through the door into the room.
Parents and wives were able to meet and connect and encourage each other. We had a head’s up to be on the look out for a Marine Mom, her son, and his wife and were able to give her a Marine Mom hug from the Oklahoma Marine Moms.
I passed on a Tennessee nifty-gifty to a Tennessee Marine from a former Tennessee Marine of a past war (can you say orange?), and we did our best to fatten up Deb’s wheelchair buddy with smoothies. There was a big, dark chocolate candy bar in the gift bag that made at least one Marine really happy. The Marines who wanted to got a lei. “Hey! Wanna lei???” You should have seen their eyes open up wide! hehe
It takes so little to give encouragement and to bring a smile to someone’s face.
“Touches of Home” make all the difference.
We’re going back at the end of September. Football theme next time. I wonder if Deb has a cheerleader’s outfit. GO RAVENS!!!
Until next time,
~ Jane
August 26, 2007 Luncheon Supporters
Thank you!
It’s basically the same menu but the stories of the parents or the wives about their Heroes are what brings us back again. For some reason this visit touched me in a way the other visits had not, and I know now, without a doubt, that the touches of home we bring fill a need to those we serve.
Perhaps it was the young wife who so was happy to see “real food”, or the mother who had been staying 24/7 by her son’s side for many weeks, or maybe it was the young Marine who was working in the Liaison office who remembered us from our last visit.
These are the things that keep us coming back.
Both the hospital staff and the Liaison staff are great and we can’t say enough good about them. Thank you guys for your help – you know who you are.
The major league ball team who was finishing their visit as we arrived—these are the things that help brighten the patients and their families’ day.
This time, thanks to Deb, we used a Tiki theme and had table decorations and food along that line.
In addition to the barbecue that seems so popular, the sandwich makings and side salads, we also had lots of fruit, key lime pies, and a chocolate-chocolate 4-layer cake.
A highlight of the luncheon were the fresh baked goodies carefully packed and shipped by Valerie from The Bread Basket in Cleveland, Tennessee – home baked breads and muffins just like Mom used to make. (No calories, of course!)
And then there were the back packs from Operation Thank You with items for the kids visiting their Dads that were passed out. (Those ladies KNOW how to shop!!!)
We also stuffed the fridge and the pantry cupboards for those late night snacks with the help of Dave from Entenmann’s, and I included a poem written by Connie and a note from Bob for the families and patients in the basket of candy on the counter.
Miracles Happen at Bethesda and the doctors, nurses, and the Marine Liaison staff are Angels on Earth, as are the ladies I do this with.
Thank you to all who helped make our June visit happen, including our donors who wish to remain nameless.
~ Jane
Many thanks to those of you who donated towards the luncheon my friends and I recently held at Bethesda.
Wounded Marines, Soldiers, their families and friends, Marine Officers in Training from Quantico, hospital staff and Navy and Marine staff enjoyed a meal of pork barbecue, lunchmeat and sandwich makings, cole slaw, macaroni salad, potato salad, chips, fresh veggie trays, fresh fruit, pies, and juice drinks.
We were able to have gift bags for each family, and we filled the fridge and cabinets in the pantry with Gatorade, soda, bottled juice, chips, Entenmann’s, and individually packaged snacks. Items like games and magazines were left in the Day Rooms for the families to use as they would like to.
All of this was made possible by the generous donations of Entenmann’s, Rice’s Country Store, Operation Thank You, co-workers, and friends from across the country.
Many thanks to all of you!
~ Jane