Not a usual Christmas, but still lots of joy to be had!
So this Christmas is a bit different for me as this year my 2 oldest are both in the military now and neither was able to be home for Christmas day. My oldest has been in the Navy for over 2 years now and this is his 3rd Christmas in a row where he could not be home on Christmas day. Now my 18 yr old is at his 29 day MCT (marine combat training school) in Jacksonville, NC and does not get liberty and no phone...except for today...thankfully his instructor was not being a scrooge like some of the other company instructors and allowed them to have their phones to call home. It was soooo good to hear his voice! He only has 2 more weeks and then starts his MOS schooling. He let another guy that was in one of the companies that did not allow them to have their phones to use his to call his mom. This was a guy he went through boot camp with and I got to know the mom and she sent me a message saying my son was officially her Santa Marine and made her Christmas for allowing her son to use his phone...that's my boy! :)
That was best gift #1 getting to talk to him. Best gift #2 was talking to my Navy son and him telling me he is going to propose to his girlfriend in the next few weeks before he deploys! WOWSA! I was not expecting that, but it teared me up with such joy! He is such a fine man and his soon to be fiance is a lucky woman...but she is pretty cool too so it's a win-win...and I get to have a daughter! I got to meet her last weekend which was when we had our Christmas with him.:)
So even though I am missing my boys, each one brought me a lot of joy today and just so proud of the fine young men they have become! So much to be thankful for!
On a bit of a different note, I was watching an episode of one of my favorite shows last night on my DVR called The Librarians with Noah Wylie. One of the characters said something that made me think of WA. She said "an institution is as good as those that are in it". WA is an "institution" of good people such as Kyle and Carson and all the thousands of people they have brought into WA under the idea of paying it forward and continually helping people to succeed. Thank you to all of you here that make WA one of a kind opportunity for success and kind of like bringing yet another kind family in to my life!
Really feeling blessed and I hope you are all enjoying your Christmas with your loved ones.
Fae
Recent Comments
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Awww...how sweet that you had some surprises today. We have so many blessings in life. Many thanks to you and your sons for serving our country.
There are so many individuals dealing with traumatic events that resulted in PTSD. Glad you found WA and are pursuing your dreams to help those individuals. I wish you much success! :)
Thanks for the follow! I see you are from PA originally...what part? I am in Ephrata, PA..near Lancaster. But eventually hope to move South...tired of the cold! Lol
I unfortunately am having to switch my path a bit and no longer continuing my degree..but hope to still take some continuing education at some point to at least maybe be able to put a support group together to help veterans. I am glad I am at least in a job I can help them get jobs:)
Merry Christmas!
Fae
Yes, I grew up near Penn State University in State College, PA, but didn't get any of my degrees in PA. I moved South many years ago to attend college and esp to get warm. All of my family's still in the State College area.
So many veterans do not receive the help they need. I've assisted homeless veterans on the streets of Atlanta. It isn't right that individuals who have served our country are homeless or w/o medical or mental health care. But it's happening. It's good that you can help them get the jobs they need. That's huge! :)
Blessings!
Colleen