It seems to me that there are three kinds of attitudes that come from the non-military people in this country. There are the ones who are anti-military even down to hating the actual military members (hello, 99% of Burlington, Vermont?), the ones who are apathetic or even those who may voice support for the military but never act on it, and the ones who are all out supportive, kind, and sold out patriotic.
Today I want to focus on the third group - the kind supporters of our country's military. I want to hear some stories from my fellow military spouses (or members) about the kindness(s) shown to you by civilians. I want to hear all about the support and love you have been given.
I have two reasons for this. One is that it is a huge encouragement to hear about these kind of stories. And two, it may very well give some great ideas to the civilians reading this post about how they can help a military family or member out. I think a lot of civilians truly desire to lend support they just don't know how.
I will lead off...
I am a practical person by nature. I love practical things. So when my friend Sam (Tarrah's husband) offered to take my garbage to the landfill for me every week that Daniel was deployed, I took him up on his offer. What a gift! I know it wasn't a fun job for him ( I remember something that had to do with raw chicken juice and the trunk of his Jetta - eww!) but he did it faithfully and I greatly appreciated it. He also came over and changed my blown out light bulbs and let me know help was only a phone call away.
I also had some older friends who would come over once or twice a month and either watch my kids at my house or take them along when they went grocery shopping. I was desperate for a break so those few hours of peace every once in awhile kept my sanity somewhat in place. These same friends of mine also made a concerted effort to involve me in their family activities. That was huge to me. It felt so good to be part of a family again.
Now, it's your turn! Tell me and all my readers your stories of your experiences with wonderful acts of kindness. I'm excited...
See ya in comments!!
Oh, there was an interesting and (possibly) touchy subject raised in the Misconceptions post. It was comment number 26 and the question was asked by Jennifer...
Today I want to focus on the third group - the kind supporters of our country's military. I want to hear some stories from my fellow military spouses (or members) about the kindness(s) shown to you by civilians. I want to hear all about the support and love you have been given.
I have two reasons for this. One is that it is a huge encouragement to hear about these kind of stories. And two, it may very well give some great ideas to the civilians reading this post about how they can help a military family or member out. I think a lot of civilians truly desire to lend support they just don't know how.
I will lead off...
I am a practical person by nature. I love practical things. So when my friend Sam (Tarrah's husband) offered to take my garbage to the landfill for me every week that Daniel was deployed, I took him up on his offer. What a gift! I know it wasn't a fun job for him ( I remember something that had to do with raw chicken juice and the trunk of his Jetta - eww!) but he did it faithfully and I greatly appreciated it. He also came over and changed my blown out light bulbs and let me know help was only a phone call away.
I also had some older friends who would come over once or twice a month and either watch my kids at my house or take them along when they went grocery shopping. I was desperate for a break so those few hours of peace every once in awhile kept my sanity somewhat in place. These same friends of mine also made a concerted effort to involve me in their family activities. That was huge to me. It felt so good to be part of a family again.
Now, it's your turn! Tell me and all my readers your stories of your experiences with wonderful acts of kindness. I'm excited...
See ya in comments!!
Oh, there was an interesting and (possibly) touchy subject raised in the Misconceptions post. It was comment number 26 and the question was asked by Jennifer...
14 Comments:
I imagine it was such a relief to have help with everyday things!
even down to hating the actual military members (hello, 99% of Vermont?),
That must have made recruiter duty even harder than it already is.
Now, onto the good stuff.
This most recent thing has been the most obvious thing for me happened recently. In January, many people here lost power. Fortunately, I was not one of them. However, I had many people who were really just casual aquaintances from Tae Kwon Do, who themselves did not have power, calling me to find out if I was okay. These people, whom I did not know well enough for them to have my phone number or last name, tracked my phone number down and called to see if I was okay. How cool is that?
On Veteran's Day this past year, my dad (COL, USAF, ret.) took my three teenage brothers and my mom out for lunch after attending the memorial ceremony at the national cemetery nearby. When he went to the cash register to pay for their meal, he found that another diner had taken care of the tab for them--which must have been quite a bill, knowing the way my brothers eat =). I know that meant the world to my mom and dad, who served for almost thirty years with virtually no recognition.
A stranger in a restaurant bought my lunch once, because he overheard my conversation and realized my husband was deployed. That means *so* *much*. Friends have had me over for dinner--once, or on a regular basis. They've gotten together as a group and taken care of my yard work (we have just over an acre of land, so it's quite a job). They've fixed my plumbing. They've taken my cars to get the oil changed.
The practical things really do mean a lot, especially because as guard families we are often on a reduced income during deployments as well as being single-handed. We neither have time to take care of things ourselves, or the money to hire someone to do it.
I would say that the nicest thing that ever happened to us was one night when we were at a restaurant. An older gentleman and his wife approached us and somehow he knew that we were a military family (probably the hub's haircut) and proceeded to thank my husband for his service and then to tell our 2 daughters what a hero their dad was. Wow. My husband is modest to an extreme, but to have someone call you a hero in front of your little girls. Of course, it came as no surprise that the gentleman was a retired Air Force pilot. It meant the world to us. And many times we have had occaisions where military members are recognized (at amusement parks, shows, church, etc.) To all the people who stand up and applaud and let military families know they are appreciated - Thanks! It really means a lot.
I Love this idea. I'm hopefully a Patriotic Civilian. I would love some ideas how I can support you all more.
I have bought a meal for a military family once. I try to always thank Soilders, Veterans and their families. I'm involved with our churches Soilder ministry to send care packages and notes. But I honestly want to do more and REALLY say THANK YOU.
My 17 yr old son recently met with an Army recruiter. After we left the office I realized I had not thanked each of the young men for their service. So I plan to make them a plate of cookies and go back. Would that be ok?
THANK YOU TO EACH OF YOU. MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT YOU ALL.
Blessings
Cherie
As a Vermonter, I have seen people in my home town protesting the war, but without any signs that say anything about our troops. However I have also seen some wonderful acts of support by others. Two classrooms at two different schools have adopted my husband's platoon and are writing them letters, a hardware store in the town where my husband went to high school is collecting items to send over.
My mother is a liberal and her husband is a pacifist, I hear so much from her husband complaining about the war and then reading horror stories about things that soldier do to civilians and other soldiers (he heard about rape), he kept thinking negatively about soldiers and I wanted to slap him across the face at times. J has started to get to the point that he really wants to say something during dinner conversations.
I spent about 45 minutes with USAA the other day, spoke with four different agents and each one said Thank You to me and my husband for the work that he does and for supporting him in the way that all of us support our husbands.
We bought our house in a town that is 40 minutes away from where my husband is stationed, our neighbor's are extremely helpful with everything that I need, they wanted my husband to know that they will always be there for me while he's gone. Two other families that I live near have both said please give us a call if there is anything that I need help with.
Random people have seen the DOD decals on my car and have just come up to me and said "Thank you."
When my girlfriend came back from her 4th deployment to Iraq, I took her to Olive Garden for lunch (along with my two daughters). We ate, drank, chatted and laughs. The waitress must have overheard us talking about her deployment because when it was time to pay the bill...there wasn't one. The restaurant manager came over and thanked her for her service and told us, our lunch was on him!
It's so nice to hear encouraging stories about people supporting the military. I am already looking forward with gratitude to the people who I pray will be there to help us when Jordan is gone!
I had one quick response to Jennifer's questions. It helps a lot of people to realize that "Thou shalt not kill" is actually a very poor translation of the Hebrew - what it actually says is "Thou shalt not murder". Murder and killing are two very different things, and a man in the military doing his job and protecting his country definitely can not be classified as a murderer. There are countless times in the Bible that God sent his people into battle: obviously He did not have a problem with that. Moses' life is an interesting example. He led the Israelites into several battles and killed many people - God had no problem with that. But when Moses killed one Egyptian out of anger and self-interest, God reprimanded and punished him for it.
Although taking a life is a very serious thing no matter how it is done, I hope people are able to realize the distincion.
Sorry - I didn't mean that to become a theology lesson! It just helped me to learn all that.
honestly, as a spouse of a deployed soldier, it warms my heart EVERY SINGLE TIME someone tells me 'thank you' or tells me to tell my husband the same.
of course, help with practical things (like the weed-eater!!) is awesome, but sweet little gestures mean a lot too... like a starbuck's gift card, something handmade (one friend sent me soaps and another sent me a 'tissue cozy'), it just reminds me that others are thinking of us and praying for us while we are walking through this deployment. Those gestures encourage my husband as well, knowing that others are supporting US!
These are so sweet. I would have to say that the Apopka, FL post office did the sweetest thing for me. When hubby was deployed I was weekly sending packages out to him. After a while, they began to just let me drop them off and not pay! I was stunned and overwhelmed with their kindness!
Also, any time my husband has someone thank him for his service it brings tears to his eyes so a simply "thank you" is more than enough!
I have a few examples of random kindness. Hubby did active duty Air Force before I met him, then did 12 years reserve Air Force, and recently got out completely.
During lunch one reserve weekend, a random stranger paid for our lunch. Hubby, was, of course in uniform. The waitress came over and told us that our bill had been taken care of, including dessert if we wanted it. We asked who had picked up the tab so we could thank them, and she said he had specifically asked her not to tell us until he had left, but that he just wanted to thank my husband for his service.
We had to travel 300 miles each way for his reserve duty each month, so it was usually fairly late when we got home at the end of the weekend, and sometimes he was still in uniform. Once, while we were unloading the car, a car drove past our house really slowly, then backed up, stopped at the end of the driveway and rolled down the window. The car was full of teenagers, who said "Hey man, we just wanted to say thanks for all you do."
This past Veteran's Day, one of his law school professors specifically called out each student who is a Veteran, asked them to stand, and thanked them for their service. They then received a standing ovation from the rest of the class.
Nothing big, but as hubby says, it's the small things that really make you feel 'warm and fuzzy.'
I always appreciate when friends help me with practical things (mowing the lawn, dropping off a meal once in a while "just because", calling to ask how I'm doing or if I need anything).
But one act of kindness stands out in my mind: I was flying out of Nashville with my infant daughter 6 years ago, right before the initial invasion into Iraq, and I handed the security officer who checks your ID and boarding pass my military ID because I couldn't find my driver's license. She told me to step out of the line, and I was already nervous flying alone with my first baby and I was a very young new mom; I was sure I'd done something wrong or would be delayed. When the line died down, she approached me, reached into her pocket, pressed a small silver cross in my hand and said, with tears in her eyes, "Thank you for your service to our country. Your husband must be so proud of you." I was a bit speechless and managed to mumble something about me not being the one in the military, and she just grinned and said, "I know. God bless you and your family." When it dawned on me what she meant, I was brought to tears. No one had ever said anything like that to me before. I'll never forget her. I keep that cross in my daughter's keepsake box.
I'm one of these "civilians" that you talk about, and I have to say I feel somewhat offended by the term. It sounds a bit condescending.. "civilian." I'm sure I'm being nitpicky. LOL. I've commented on here before but once again, thank you so much for the sacrifices you guys are making for our country. :)
I babysit for a military family that just found out her husband might have to be deployed early next year. I know they don't have a lot of money, and she knows that my hubby and I don't have a lot. However, when it was my hubby and my wedding anniversary, she paid me extra for babysitting, and she told me to "do something special for your anniversary." I was just so touched that somewhat who's already sacrificing so much was still looking for ways to give more and help other people more.
Thank you for encouraging those of us on the outside looking in...wanting so desperately to convey our thanks, gratitude and awe for your families' sacrifices.
((hugs)) to the Hubs and all the military families from the Shooter fam.
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