Heroes

Good morning – welcome to one of the approximately 150 blogs participating in the Memorial Day bloghop sponsored by Operation Write Home. No one can be bored this week end with that many blogs to visit.

Do you have an abundance of supplies, do you still like to buy more stuff – well here is a great way to use some of your supplies and the good feeling each card provides is multiplied by 4 or more times. You make the card. A soldier receives the cards to send home. The soldier writes a note and sends it home to a loved one. A loved one receives a beautiful handcrafted card with a wonderful greeting from afar. How can you resist a chance to make so many people feel wonderful. You can also write notes to our Heroes (the soldiers who are deplyed - a note lifts their spirits). Operation Write Home has a wonderful card blog on which they have challenges and feature stampers and have a very active family on Facebook. Come to Facebook and become a Friend.

Ty, Anna, Mason and Alaina Edwards

My post today is dedicated to our soldiers and families past and present. They are all heroes. Through my card making I met online a wonderful young lady named Anna. Anna is the same age as my daughters. She is married to Ty who is a Lieutenant Colonel in the Marines. They have two children Mason and Alaina. While Ty was deployed to Afghanistan, Anna and many other military wives from his unit organized a school supply drive. As a father of young children, Ty could not believe how the schools had no supplies. A pencil was a treasure. We all got our supplies together and shipped them off to Ty. I also organized a card drive through a magazine and sent several boxes of greeting cards to Ty to distribute to his unit. While in Afghanistan Ty was severely wounded. Through the power of the internet and Caring Bridge we were able to follow Ty’s medical journey, Anna’s struggle to be with her husband and to be a parent and the children’s living with grandparents, changing schools, etc. Our heroes come in all sizes and shapes. Ty’s injury and their journey as a family – touched my heart and brought the war so close to home.

I wanted to share a picture of Ty, Anna, Mason and Alaina. Ty has also written us a letter – after reading it – you will understand why I have chosen to become a part of Operation Write Home.

Dear Barb and friends:
It has been a long journey to recovery. And the journey continues. As you know, I was wounded on October 20, 2008. Subsequently, I was an inpatient in the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital, here in Tampa, Florida for over a year and a half. I was recently discharged from the hospital (on March 12, 2010) to outpatient status. My life at home is beyond my wildest expectations! I am so happy to be with my family again. Counting the deployment to Afghanistan, it had been over two years since I was able to sleep in my own bed and live with my family. Now, I go for long bike rides with my kids (me in the power wheelchair). And this weekend I swam in the pool with the kids for the first time (with my wife’s assistance). I want to thank you for all the prayers, cards, gifts and thoughts for Anna, Mason, Alaina and myself. Please continue to support our active duty and their families; I know that you will. Memorial Day is a day when we pay tribute to those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for their nation. Let us not forget those who will never see their families again.
Semper Fi,
Lt Col B.T. Edwards, USMC

Thank you to my friends for sharing with us part of their story. You are an inspiration. Someday I am going to meet the Edwards family - I feel they are a part of my family.

Here is the card I have made for today's blog hop. I do try to keep the cards I make for Operation Write Home flatter so they are less bulky to mail. With Memorial Day and the 4th of July coming, there are many beautiful sets of patriotic paper in the stores - if you have the desire to do some shopping. Silly thought - desire to shop.

Card Details:
Size 4.25 x 5.5
Cardbase – recycled
Patterned Paper –Rusty Pickle – Bottle Rockets collection
Sentiment Stamp – Michael’s dollar stamps
Colorbox Chalk Ink by Clearsnap

Blog Candy

Here is the blog candy you can win from me. Isn't this a great sentiment stamp set - you could use every one of those stamps on cards you create. Just leave a comment and I will draw a name on Wednesday evening of this week - this will give you time to hop. Now the next stop on thehop is to go to Julie's blog - Handmade by Julie.

Everyone have a safe Memorial Day week end.