Yes, this was our last luncheon at Mercy Hall.  We’ll move over to Sanctuary Hall in August for the next Thursday luncheon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Special THANKS to Graul’s Market in St, Michaels, MD for their donation of the assorted rolls, potato salad, fruit salad, cookies, and apple pie!

Bayside Quilters of Easton, MD supplied the quilts.  They’ve been sending LOVE to the troops at the hospital and Mercy Hall since 2009.  Thank you, Quilters!

The “Two If By Tea” tea was donated by an anonymous “Elf”.  Thank you!

Katie and Guy, you are always such a pleasure to work with!  Job well done!  Thank you for your time and dedication to the guys and gals we serve at Mercy Hall!

We met some new people, their first time at one of our luncheons.  There are very few places on base to eat and there’s no commissary on base, so even though they have microwaves in their rooms, the luncheons are always a HUGE morale booster for the Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, and Airmen we serve.  It was nice meeting them and always a joy to see our old friends and catch up with them.

Now… about that macaroni and cheese… We’ve been working (sorta-kinda) on a cookbook of “tried and true” recipes from the luncheons over the years and should be rolling with it probably toward the end of July, beginning of August.  More details to come…

And about the move over to Sanctuary Hall – before we left the base we drove by the building. It’s huge.  We’re pretty sure we’ll be serving wounded, injured, and ill out-patients as well as single, enlisted service members (all service branches) stationed at Walter Reed when we do the switch-over.  We’re anticipating serving double, maybe triple (maybe more?) the number of people we’ve been serving the past few years at Mercy Hall.  We’ll see how it goes.

And who knows what will happen with the situation currently going on in Iraq?  First it starts with “no boots on the ground”, then “300 advisors” and a ship with 500 Marines sitting off the coast…  And the draw-down in Afghanistan going on… after 5 Taliban honchos have been released from Gitmo… Maybe this is what we need to do…………

Mmm hmmm… How long have we been talking about this, Ladies, 10 years or more?

The Marines, Sailors, Soldiers, Airmen, and Coast Guardsmen answered their country’s call and served their time over there with honor following the orders they were given.  We’re proud of each and every one of you.

If you think what we do is a worthy cause, please consider buying a raffle ticket or two.  We are 100% volunteer, and 100% of the proceeds from our annual quilt raffle fundraiser directly benefit those we serve through our luncheons. Administrative costs, and often times food, are out of pocket expenses for our volunteers.  Final postmark is August 1st, tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.  For details, please click on the picture.  Thank you for your consideration.

Until next time, thoughts and prayers for our military and their families.

Love and Hugs,

Barb and I rode over together to Mercy Hall.  It was nice having someone to talk with during the hour and half drive to Walter Reed.  She’s good company.

Thursday DC Beltway traffic is a little heavier than the Sundays we go over and this Thursday was no different. It was comforting to see the steeples, we knew we were almost there.

We arrived and unloaded, the Sailors set up the tables for us, then I went to park while Barb began pulling everything out and arranging the food.

Did you know parking at Walter Reed during the week is the pits?  Yeah, it is. She was almost finished by the time I got back.

The luncheons make the drive and the parking worth it though.  The guys and gals enjoy them and are so appreciative of the meal.  Lots of new faces this month.  December was the last time we were there and we saw a few guys who had been to that luncheon.

We had to cancel February’s Mercy Hall luncheon, the first time this has happened in our many years of going there. This was a winter we’ll be talking about for a long time… until the next one anyway.  We aren’t used to a lot of snow in this neck of the woods.

Menu:

appetizer, buffalo wings with ranch and blue cheese sauce, meatballs in spaghetti sauce, rolls, green beans, potato salad, dessert and assorted drinks.

Oh, the Easter Bunny dropped off some carrots.  And yes, those are Red Velvet Cookies.

One of the Dads said it did his heart good to see us Marine Moms. He’s a Marine Veteran who was there with his Navy daughter.  (We told him one of us is a Marine Mom and the other is a Navy Mom.)

We saw a few patients with musical instruments, had not seen that before.  The NICoE next door has music therapy.

We may have one more luncheon at Mercy Hall before the move over to Sanctuary Hall.  When that happens we expect to be serving double, maybe triple, the number we’re serving now.  But hey, we’ve got the logistics down pat!  And we love a challenge!  And we love who we serve!

Thanks so much for your help, Barb, and for sharing your pictures!  It was an excellent luncheon!

Thank you to our supporters.  I wish you could see the look on their faces when they come into the lobby and see the buffet. Most of them don’t know we’ll be there.

“This is for us??? Thank You!”

And we say, “No, thank YOU!”

One day, most likely, the men and women we serve at Mercy Hall will be transitioned into the Dept. of Veteran Affairs health care system.

When I heard about this, dated April 10, 2014, it made my blood boil…

“Deaths at Phoenix VA hospital may be tied to delayed care”

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/2014/04/10/deaths-phoenix-va-hospital-may-tied-delayed-care/7537521/

How someone can do this and keep a clear conscious – keep secret lists, when they are supposed to be serving Veterans who have willingly served our country, with all of the money that’s been poured into the VA in recent years, hiring thousands of extra help, supposedly making progress in the long wait times for appointments – is beyond my comprehension.

How do they sleep at night?

Until next time, continued prayers for our military and their families.

Love and Hugs,

“Elfie Stuff…”

Mercy Hall is a small transitional barracks for out-patients with the ability to live on their own, and is also for wounded Warriors on medical hold (med-hold for short) waiting for their discharge from the military.  In most cases the residents of Mercy Hall do not have family members staying with them.  We have seen a lot of changes at Mercy Hall over the past four years.  The barracks used to house mostly Marines and a handful of Sailors, maybe a Soldier or two.

Since the transition of Walter Reed over to Bethesda the service branches living there are more diverse.  We are now serving about a third the number we used to serve at Mercy Hall.  The residents are on internships, have classes either on base or at a college off base, have doctors’ appointments, field trips… they are kept very busy!  And this is a good thing.  It gets them out of their rooms and in some cases like with the internships, takes them out into the civilian world preparing them for jobs and for the day they are discharged.

This month’s Mercy Hall luncheon was extra special (but then they ALL are!)

It began with a trip to the post office on Wednesday, the day before the luncheon, and finding a package pick up notice that had to be signed for.  Now if you follow Marine Moms-Bethesda on Facebook, you will know every once in a while I post a YouTube link to The Warrior Song – HARD CORPS.  Why? Just because I LIKE it!

Guess who the box was from?

Inside of the box was a note:

Dear Marine Moms,
This bundle of CDs was purchased by an anonymous admirer in the hopes that you would pass them out to lift the spirits of the veterans you are helping.
With our best regards,
   The Warrior Song Project

 

 

Wow………… not only were CDs in the box, but DVDs and t-shirts!

You can check The Warrior Song website out here.

A little about a few of the Marines who received the generous gifts:

One has been a resident of Mercy Hall for two years, told us he has finally finished all of his surgeries and just recently received his med hold paperwork.

Another we met in December 2011 at Richmond VA Medical Center when he was in a wheelchair; again in February at Mercy Hall still in a wheelchair not knowing if he could keep his leg; again in April and he was walking with a cane ON his own two feet!  On Thursday he was walking unaided, completely on his own!

A third Marine has been there at least 6 months and asked for a second t-shirt for his older brother who is a Marine now out of the Corps, so we gave him one to pass on.  (How can a Marine Mom say “no” to one of our Semper Fi Guys?  She can’t!  And we didn’t think the donor would mind us doing this.)

Following the recovery of these and other Marines has been extremely humbling.  The opportunity to serve lunch to them at Mercy Hall every other month is a true honor, and a privilege we Moms do not take lightly.

The menu was pickles, meat lasagna, veggie lasagna, chicken salad sandwiches, cucumber salad, tossed salad, watermelon, cantaloupe, grapes and apricots, assorted rolls and bread, pretzel/Rollo/pecan thingies, blueberry cobbler, and assorted drinks.  The meat lasagna, chicken sandwiches, pretzel thingies, and cobbler were the hits of the day!  Several of the Marines stocked up with the lasagna for later.  Most of the veggie lasagna went “home” with a woman Sailor.  Other leftovers were left in the fridge and if not perishable, on the table for the residents.

Katie went over to the hospital ward to invite families over and I held the fort down.  She makes the luncheons look easy.

Some ARMY STRONG Soldiers joined us, both men and women, as did two Corpsmen, all of them injured in the war.  Love ‘em all!

I asked one of the Soldiers what he liked and he said, just like all of the guys do, “I’ll eat anything!”  “No, what do you really like? What do you eat when you go home on leave?”

“Steak!”  (Just like all of the guys say!)

“Oh, and I like sweet potato pie.”

I promised him we would bring him a sweet potato pie when we are back in August, and if we don’t see him, we’ll put his name on it for when he gets back later that day.  Steaks, however, would be a stretch for our budget…

The t-shirts and CDs were awesome and a great morale booster.  Thank You to whomever sent them, and to the Warrior Song Project for being the intermediary for this random act of kindness.

And if anyone is wondering, one “Elf” did come to mind and when I asked him if he had anything to do with it he said,

“I have absolutely no idea who might have done such a thing…
Besides, even if I did… wild horses couldn’t drag it out of me.”

Gotta love our “Elfs”!  =)

We are very grateful for our military, and grateful for those who help us support those who have given so much to our country defending our freedoms.

Thank you to the staff at Mercy Hall for their help getting the word out about our luncheons and for helping us unloading and loading the cars.  Katie, thank you for your help making the luncheon a success! You all are great!

Our annual quilt raffle is going on.  The drawing for “Stars and Bars Forever”, donated by Bayside Quilters of Easton, MD to help raise funds for the luncheons, will be held August 16 at our Mercy Hall luncheon.  100% of the funds raised from the raffle will directly support our luncheons.  Tickets are $1.00 each or 6 for $5.00.  The picture does not do the quilt justice!  It is gorgeous, and the quilters hand-quilted it this year.  Thank you, Bayside!

 

Thanks also to the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the Antique and Classic Boat Society for space in their vendors’ area at their Silver Anniversary Show at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum last weekend.  Jim and Guy stopped by to see us. Jim, thanks for sharing your picture! It was great to see you both!

Until next time, continued prayers for our military and their families.

Love and Hugs,

 

 

 

 

 

Just notes this time.  Sorry, no camera, no pictures.

Roster:  Kate, Grace, Robin, Sally, Janet, and Jaime from “Touch of Relief” to do massages.  Thank you! Job well done!

Menu:  Texas Caviar and scoops, fresh veggie tray to takeover to 5 East, pork BBQ and rolls,  chicken noodle casserole, salad and dressings, corn on the cob, green beans, watermelon, oranges, and bananas, dessert, smoothies, soda, Gatorade and fruit juice.

Yay!  Reserved parking!

Smaller crowd than usual – turns out some of the Marines at Mercy Hall have internships on different days during the week around DC.

Some families came over from 5 East.  One of them has been there since November.

The road to recovery is long.  Thank you for supporting our mission.

Until next time, continued prayers for our military and their families.

Love and Hugs,

 

 

 

 

BBQ CHICKEN!!!

Just a nice, quiet, laid back luncheon.

 

 

 

 

Sally was back with us for the first time in a while.

 

 

 

 

 

Grace’s ham disappeared fast.

Jess had a work conflict and was unable to join us this time so I took over salad duty.  Made it the way she makes it.  Healthy!

Well, it does have more nutritional value and it does seem to be more popular than a regular garden salad made with iceberg lettuce.

 

 

 

Robin made the smoothies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was déjà vue when I peeked at the green beans!  Her green beans were just like my Mom used to make!

 

 

The pasta salad was made with cheese tortellini and Robin took off from there with all kinds of good stuff in it, a meal in itself!

 

 

 

Fruit and nuts, hard boiled eggs, a fresh veggie tray, and cheese and pepperoni rounded out the menu.

 

 

 

 

Cookies and pumpkin pie for dessert.

 

 

 

 

Katie, Jackie and Lauren went over to 5 East to deliver some encouragement notes and to leave food and drinks in the day room.  This was Jackie and Lauren’s first visit with us.

 

The parents of the two Marines whose names we had to look for came over for lunch, as did some other families.  We had quilts, pillowcases, and a stash table set up with things for the guys and gals.

We’ll be back at Mercy Hall on June 23rd!

April 22nd Luncheon Crew:
Robin, Grace, Sally, Lauren, Jackie, Katie, and Jane.
Thank you! Job WELL done!

Until next time, continued prayers for our military and their families.

Love and Hugs,