As we look forward to our Operation Write Home card-making day on Veteran's Day, we're pleased to have a guest post from Design Team Member Noel Culbertson. Enjoy!
All is quiet on the home front...
Imagine it's the morning of your little one's birthday. Daddy has been deployed for almost three months, and you know the one thing she is hoping for today is to hear from Daddy! I have sat through the moment many times as a Navy wife. Our family has been through five deployments, and we're gearing up for my husband to head out on number six in the next three weeks. He's had to miss birthdays, Christmases, Easters, anniversaries, school plays, first steps, and a hundred other little life moments. It's all part of the gig. We celebrate our life moments a little different than many families - our Christmas tree has already been up for a week!! We are ever thankful and proud for Stan's service, and know how important it is to stand behind him on the home front.
Since Stan's first deployment ten years ago, I've been sending cards his way. Cards from me to him, and cards for him to send back to the girls. When he headed to Iraq several years ago, and access to cards was limited, I started making cards for other fellas to send home to their families. It's been such a blessing to see organizations start up to do this very same project on a grand scale. Not only for how much it means to the people at home receiving the cards, but also the encouragement and support it shows to the men and women risking their lives to serve.
I've had one particular family on my heart for the past few weeks, and have been debating as to whether to share this story or not. But since I am not one to keep my mouth shut very well, and because this is just one story of many that are out there that we rarely hear. This is the story on one of the servicemen who serves with my husband. This man lost his wife a year ago to breast cancer. Through the process the Navy worked to keep him near her in her final days. But this year, in just three weeks, he'll be deploying for the first time since she passed away. He also has twin 9 year old daughters. With no spouse at home, he just had to make a heart wrenching trip to drop them off with his family in Louisiana. The girls are now transitioning to life without their mom or dad (for now) in a new school in a different state... away from their nuclear family. I can only imagine what it means for those two sweet girls to get a handmade card from their daddy through such a hard time. These are the silent heroes, both at home and away.
I hope you'll be able to join us on Veteran's Day for Operation Write Home, and be a part of something that means so much to so many in our great nation.
~Noel Culbertson