11/11/08 Veteran's Day

I certainly didn't expect this day to start the way it did. I was going to go into the office a little early to prepare for what was surely going to be a busy day. I thought the "quiet time" would do me some good. Before I could get out the door at 8:30 the phone rang. It was Jeannie, our park manager. She was telling me that Frank MaGuire, the full time resident in the park who was going to lead our Veteran's Day Service was being taken to the hospital. Frank plays the piano, sings and speaks passionately about subjects he cares about, the USA and our service members being one of them. She went on to tell me that winter resident, Nell Archer, volunteered to play the piano but needed to know what was planned. There was nothing written, it was all in Frank's head. I ran down to their place in hopes of seeing them before they could pull away. They were getting into the car when I arrived and Frank said that all the songs were in the handout I had made copies of. Ok, we would have to wing it.

Mitch, our chaplain, stepped up to the plate and said he would give the service honoring our men and women who have served and who are serving now. Nell and Mitch practiced the songs before the ten o'clock service was to begin. This was not the way I had planned for the day to begin but it was falling into place.

In the meantime the Red Team was hard at work in the kitchen. Cakes had to be frosted, paper products had to be gathered, ice put into coolers and a multitude of other little tasks had to be completed. Now let me tell you about Mary. Mary has thing about everything being even or lined up. We have lots of laughs over this to be sure. I wasn't a bit surprised when she brought out a measuring tape to make sure all the pieces of cake were the same size.

When Kim and I were at the Party Store buying a roll of the white plastic to cover the tables we looked for something red, white and blue to decorate the cakes with. They didn't have a thing! Jeannie came out with these red and blue "dots" and they were stuck to toothpicks as our decorations. Hey, it worked.

Here's Paul struggling to get those darn rubber gloves on.

I had to field phone calls of winter residents wanting to get tickets to the luncheon. The luncheon that was taking place in three hours. I had to turn them down. Enough food was bought to feed the number of tickets sold before the advertised deadline. I felt bad but the line has to be drawn somewhere.

I got the men lined up to carry the flags of the USA, Canada and the Christian flag for the ceremony, so that was one more task I could mark off my list.

Ribbons were given out to each veteran, USA or Canada, handouts were given out and it was time for the ceremony to begin.

I get such a proud feeling when I see my countries colors being paraded into a room. Like many others, I stood a little taller and prouder and gave thought to WHY we were all gathering today. To honor past and present service members who have valiantly served their country.

I received this email several times in the last few days, maybe you have too. If not, I'm putting it here for you to enjoy. And to think about.

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought.

Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me.

'Chicago - to Great Lakes Base. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Iraq'

After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached Chicago, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time.

As I reached for my wallet, I overheard soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to Chicago '

His friend agreed.

I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch. I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq ; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'

Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?'

'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks.'

After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane, heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars.

Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand, an said, 'I want to shake your hand.'

Quickly unfastening my seatbelt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.

Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm.

When we landed in Chicago I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!

Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base. It will be about time for a sandwich. God Bless You.'

Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers. As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals.

It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'

That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

We sang the songs of each branch of the service, the national anthems of both the USA and Canada and finished with America the Beautiful. Everyone was asked to stand when "their" song was sung, depending on which branch of the service they served in.

It was a very nice service even though it was quickly put together. I would like to thank Nell and Mitch for standing in on such short notice. I would have been up the proverbial creek without you!

As soon as the service was done the Carnaval Room was changed from an auditorium to a dining room. Tables went up quickly, extra chairs put away, plastic table covering rolled out and taped in place, salt, pepper and sugar put out and before we knew it, it was time to serve lunch.

I was proud of the team! Everything went smoothly, the food was delicious and we received tons of good comments from the winter residents! We especially heard good comments about how good the burgers and cakes were. Homemade is the way to go!

As soon as we were done cleaning up the kitchen, Mary and I raced over to the Activity Building for our zipper art class.

We even have men included in this year's class.

After the day was finally done I went over to Frank's house because I had heard he had returned from the hospital. He looked much, much better than he did this morning. Much, much better than he does in this picture. He was really putting it on for me with this pose. He's got some issues to deal with but I think he's going to be fine. We're all rooting for you Frank!

A hectic day? Oh yeah, no doubt, but I had such a nice ending to this busy day when I took the time to enjoy this sunset.

Hey, I'm caught up!