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On the Road Again, A Military Journey!
What a journey life has taken me. Right now I’m in the passenger seat, in more ways then one. Learning to be the mom that lets their children make their own choices, loving letting Hubs set the pace for this stretch and taking in the beauty of life as it whizzes by. I am very content in the passenger seat of the family mini van, the toddler fast asleep, Boy 1 intently watching a video on the DVD player and Boy 2 plays with a new stuffed animal and filling his face with goldfish crackers. We are off to see Josh, our oldest. He graduates from Basic at Ft Leonard…
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Let Them Be Little
… because they grow so very fast This past Friday my oldest son graduated from high school. How can this be? Josh was three the first time I met him and has been a piece of my heart ever since. His dad and I dated for several years and we grew closer as a unit of three until we became a family in 2001.Josh was in 1st grade when I became step-Mom. He was 8 when he became a brother(and he became a brother again and again in 2005 and 2010). He started his freshman year in high school while his dad was in Iraq. Sometimes I want moments of my day, week, month to go fast…
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Happy Birthday, Kiddo
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11Dad and Josh: Makes me smile 18 years ago a boy was born. He would forever change my life, influencing the mother that I am today, yesterday and tomorrow. He’s a brother! (and he will be again and again)Joshua, Josh, Kiddo. What an amazing young-man he has come to be. A stellar student, a strong athlete, a friend to many, a rock in a sea of turmoil. To say I am a proud mom would be an understatement. I…
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“I Will Not Say Goodbye” An Interview with Josh Gracin
Josh Gracin“I want to take everyBreath I can getI want to live” Josh Gracin “I Want to Live” I watched Dan struggle for breath, his pneumonia and infection making it so hard. He was sweating, the pain meds helping but the pain in his eyes was clear. We had traveled to be near Dan before the surgeons were going to help. Leading a church youth group service trip to Nashville, TN, Dan had fallen ill and needed urgent care. I saw him smile as his 2 year old came into the room and rocked his world… I had been looking forward to interviewing former Marine, Josh Gracin about the “Rockin…
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Happy 10 Year Anniversary!
Hubs and I celebrated 10 years of marriage this past week. Ten years! That seems huge to me, in this age of short term relationships, marriages falling apart, rampant-divorce. I can’t wait till we hit our 20 year anniversary and then our 30th, 40th, 50th but for now I can’t help but look back at the past ten and smile. 10 Random Facts: Hubs and I danced to Susan Ashton’s Spinning Like A Wheel “This is good, and this is strong. So hold to me and I’ll belong to you.” Great lyrics to an unknown love song. Hubs and I met at our mutual friends’ wedding in October of 1996. We didn’t…
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Free Music from AAFES – For the Troops II
Have you downloaded your free music from AAFES? Did I just say FREE?! I saved all of the free music (14 tracks in total, in MP3 format) to my computer and am looking very forward to listening to it in the future. Thanks to all of the artists that so generously donated to this project. I know there will be MANY service members and their families tuning into your music. Here is AAFES Press Release for more information: From the brass bands of the civil war to blaring music from a loudspeaker before a battalion run, American troops “move out” to a soundtrack that is all their own. Recognizing that…
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Happy Birthday, *E*
Sunday was my son’s 6th birthday. Wow, six years old! We had a wonderful day of celebrating but it has taken me TWO days to recuperate (hence, this “belated birthday”). I see so much of *E* in me. We are both quiet amongst new people but get us with friends and we’ll talk your ear off. We both crave friendship. We both like to know ‘the plan’. The unexpected can throw our whole day off. Surprises? Hate them! We savor knowing what is “in the works”. But he is not me. He is a rough and tumble boy. He can make a gun out of his finger, or legos or…
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A New Way to Connect
I haven’t contributed to the “Letters to You” blog before today, but I’m excited to do so! I joined the MilitaryAvenue team in early 2008 and it has been fun to jump into a new and exciting project. If you are reading this blog, you are probably familiar enough with the Internet to have at least heard of Facebook. It has gained some popularity and success over the past couple of years – roughly 65 million users with an average of 250,000 new users signing up each day! That’s exciting for the people at Facebook, but what did it mean for us at MilitaryAvenue? In mid 2007, Facebook created the…
