Anyone with Sailors/Soldiers/Marines in War Zones and Combat Areas

OMG!!!!! Did you make that yourself Joanie? How did you make it? That is absolutely adorable.

That's great! I keep looking for the "like" link that FB has ...LOVE this!

No I didn't make it...I sent the uniform to a Seabee wife in Gulfport and she made it.

This is how she is listed on Facebook: Noelle's Front Door Fabrics

A 'Huge" Thanks to All our Veterans & Soldiers now serving our Great Country as we keep them in our Prayers for Strength,Courage & Bravery. May God Bless them & their families.

The Veteran's day parade was great.   It was only 36 degrees out when I arrived at the parade route this morning (before the break of dawn).  It was a very busy morning with all the things to do to put a parade on.  But it all came together.

It was wonderful to see all the families come out to honor Veterans day!

Hope you all heard from your loved ones!  Happy Veteran's day.

Love the tree!  Now I just need some cammie's!

I also wish we had the "Like" button. The tree is GREAT!

I know none of you will forget those who are not home for Thanksgiving, but thought  you might want to share this so other can have a gentle reminder. Or not so gentle, whatever works. 

Each year if my son is deployed, he has a "story" about his Thanksgiving dinner. I will be getting another story this year. I am thankful he is doing what he chose to do with his life and that he is alive. I will miss him horribly, however. Know all on this site will be praying for him, Thanksgiving and other days as well.

With my son out of the Navy, this will be the second Thanksgiving that we've had together in 8 years....and the first one that I will cook! I'm so grateful!! We'll be thinking and offering them prayers during our day....someday, someday, all of them will be home for Thanksgiving.

That is Great TexasDoc. This Holiday season will be a rough one this year for us. But keeping busy with our grandchildren during Thanksgiving & Christmas, will help pass the time & ease some heartache. In between Thanksgiving & Christmas, we are visiting our oldest before he deploys too.

Yes.....Adale....Being able to "Hear" the stories about their deployed Thanksgiving's are what it's all about. Being Blessed & Thankful that they are still with us all.

Thanks for that JerseySusan. Brought tears to my eyes, but nice to have someone that "understands".

From a mom with a son in the sandbox for thanksgiving, I appreciate all the prayers from this group. All you out there with your kids, please hug them one more time for those of us that can't.

A while back, TexasDocMom suggested I might want to join this group despite my son being deployed somewhere other than the sandbox.  Guess I felt like as long as I stayed away from here, I didn't have to recognize that he wasn't going to be home for the holidays this year.  I don't like not being able to control my circumstances and the Navy is making it hard for me to do so this year.  We do have his wonderful four year old daughter with us while he is gone so she fills up the lonely time.  I think what is most difficult for me is that last year, my son's family was intact.  This year, the hardships of being a dual military couple ended their marriage and my little granddaughter has had to go through two parents being deployed and moving back and forth across country to be with grandparents who adore her.  I pray next Thanksgiving and Christmas will be more normal for her, with both parents nearby, even if not together. Thanks for listening.  I have been a Navy mom for over 9 years and this is the first hard year for me.  I've been lucky.    

docsmom, thank you for joining us. It really helps to have this page to share your fears, concerns and loneliness....and joy when the good stuff happens. You are not alone in fearing the unknown, or missing your child (or in many cases, like Susan, children!) especially during the holidays, even more than those long "normal" days. 

I met a woman the other night when I worked a dinner for the First Ladies at our LBJ Library, her son has been in 17 years and is now a Marine commander. (I forget the rank). He has deployed multiple times and will be doing so again. I invited her to join us, and when she said "but he's a Marine"...I told her we don't care, deployed is deployed, fear is fear, and you are not alone. We have a lot of good moms and a few dads that will reach out and hold your hand. I hope she joins us. We started our conversation when we were looking at a photo of LBJ during the Viet Nam war, listening to a tape recorder, his son in law sharing his experience in VN, President Johnson has his head in his hand, leaned down on a desk, and you can see the despair in his face. All parents have this fear, and we welcome all of you here. We are all the same, we have all been in that pain, and we will all help each other to keep sane in the insanity of a child in a war zone. You are not alone. 

docsmom, glad you joined us here. My son is in the Navy(in the sandbox)on loan to the Airforce Reserves...we are all one "family". My son has been in the Navy for 13 years and this isn't the only difficult one, nor the only one when he has been deployed. I just found this site recently and it is amazingly supportive. My Navy son was 11 when his dad left me. It isn't easy, but he is strong and has survived. I too am praying for all the others in "our shoes" with our dear sons and daughters out there during the holidays. Also, thanks to the people that put the sites up that ship to APO/FPO. Ordered Cmas goodies for my son today.

Mickey say's it best!

thank you Paymaster,  Back at ya,

So... I e-mailed our son today a Happy Thanksgiving, even though I know he won't see it. I know when I bake the Pumpkin Pie tomorrow morning, I will probably fall apart. I already am just thinking about it now. It's his Favorite Pie. Happy Thanksgiving To All.

Jersey....Its good the think of him.

I always made everyones lunches in the morning.  I always put them in the same order everyday, my husbands first, then mine, then the Navy son, then our second son's and lastly our daughters from left to right.  When the Navy son left home I would make the lunches like I always did, leaving his space empty.  One morning my husband made the mistake of mentioning that now that he was gone to the Navy that I could space the lunches out a little more and not leave his space empty.  In a very firm tone I told him, that was the Navy son's spot and it always will be and as long as I live and I make lunches everyday it would stay that way!  He has never said another work about were the lunches are place on the counter.  That was 15 years ago. 

Eventho the other children have left home the lunches go in the same spots.  I think about my children every morning as I make lunches. 

Thanks Susan. Although my son is in the sandbox, I think of many Thanksgivings after my divorce that he wasn't here for the holiday either. I kept thinking when I got old, my kids would rally, but though I feel old, it hasn't happened yet. Somehow, though, him being out of the US makes it hard to get through today. I worry about how he gets through this day. Thanks for your prayers.

Thinking of you all this morning....very thankful that I'm cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my all my children (kids and grandkids) to be together for the first time on Thanksgiving day since my son enlisted. He's out now..and here, sleeping in a bed too short in his old room...that is my wish for each one of you someday soon. It will happen.

You will each be in our blessing as will your children and those with whom they serve....and Paymaster...tradition is GOOD, it keeps us sane. Have a blessed day all of you...and if it's tough, come here, we'll all be checking in on this board all day long. You are not alone.

I Love your story Paymaster......And MalaMama, Thanks for that Blessed Visual.....We got a 60 second phone call in the middle of the night. Not really to sure if he knew it was Thanksgiving at first. Just to hear his voice made my pie baking a little easier this morning.Hugs to You All on this Thanksgiving Day.

Well it was a quiet holiday. My bee had to work yesterday. All I can say is thank goodness for facebook messaging.  we send short comments and questions almost everyday so I have been able to keep my sanity.  I no longer torture myself waiting for the phone to ring instead I will be grateful when  it does ring the next time. Thanks for all of the encouraging heartwarming posts over recent days.  I am so glad that none of us are alone in trying to cope with the deployment. HUGS to all

Glenda, that is the "Best" Thanksgiving for you. God Bless You & your family.

PS Julie, I'm not a FB user, but after your comment, I think I might sign up for it today. Thanks.

Send a holiday message!!  Nov 26th (tomorrow!) is the cut off...check this out!!! do it right now!!

That is Awesome TexasDoc!!!! I am going to gather everyone up so we can all write something to him!!

We did the holiday message. I am Sooo excited about it. Since we are still up here visiting our daughter & her family, we all gathered in front of the fireplace & took a picture to go with it. Our daughter used her computer to edit the pic like a Christmas postcard. Just "Praying" that somehow he will be able to get a hold of the Stars & Stripes Newspaper over there when it comes out.

Congrats, Wamom!! how exciting...and glad Christmas will be good for you this year! JerseySusan, glad you got that message off! Kym!! Happy Birthday to a sailor's sister, having her brother home safe and sound! Hug him again!

Julie, congrats on the phone call, I know that is the best night's sleep you had in a while....Glenda, glad your son is home. We can always use moms with experience around here, so drop by anytime.

OK Julie, I'm on FB. Wow, this is a whole "New" territory for me. I'm not that computer 'Savy'!!! Is there anything "Specifically" I should look for that pertains to our deployed on the Navy Page of FB?

Use the Facebook search to look for any groups you may want...put in "navy" and a lot of Navy pages will pop up. Chat, I believe, is now on the right, make sure it is enabled...and find your son's page on FB so he can chat with you. 

The Runnin' Roos: Running Roos Facebook page

Great idea Julie.

The photo below is from Camp Leatherneck....corpsmen decorating for Christmas...for more see Facebook Leatherneck page

I'm not naming names but there's a mom on this board who belongs to one of those gorgeous women docs in that photo...

So, it was our sons B'day Wed, & he was able to make a "Surprise" phone call to us. We sang Happy Birthday to him over the phone. We sent a Christmas package out to him yesterday. Not to sure when he will receive it,but not b/c of mail. We are getting ready to leave NJ tomorrow. Heading back to our GA home after being here since Halloween. Of course, our Dec is already full. Going out to see our son in San Diego in a couple of weeks before his deployment takes place. We will be very excited to see him.

TexasDoc....Love the photos. I've been waiting anxiously to see if the Mom of the daughter comes forward so we can give her lots of "Praise"!!

That is so great Inga!! I just wanted to put a face with our "Page Celebrity"!! You must be extremely proud of her and I bet you cant wait until she's home. Thanks for sharing. :)

Susan!! I'm so excited you got such a wonderful surprise!! I bet you were on the ceiling happy!!! good for you!

Birthday and Christmas packages all mailed this morning...So glad to have that behind me...Now to start working on January packages!

YUP Joanie, I had them both in a row too, B'day & Christmas!! It really takes a lot of concentration & organization to gather up items & make sure they get out in time doesn't it?? I felt so relieved on Friday when mine were done too. I don't think he will get all of ours until Jan. BUT, if we hear he did get our package this month, just like you...... we will be thinking about January.

Makes me worry about you guys when I don't see posts, so just to remind you, this works for military moms over the years as well: 

Thanks TexasDoc, I guess the holidays approaching keeps us busy. We had another nice surprise phone call last night. Every time we think its been long since we have heard from him & we start to get worried, "Heaven's Angels" always answers our prayers so we can hear his voice. I know everyone says "No News is Good News", but that just doesn't work in my heart & mind. Our Blue Star Mother Chapter is having a holiday get together tonight and right now I'm baking cookies for them to bring for an event that will take place this week with cadets at a University.