So earlier in the day we talked about what Veterans Day was, looked at photos of where "the army men and women" were. We talked about what they had given up to protect anyone from doing anything bad to the United States. "Some mommy's and daddy's don't get to see their children each day because they are far away. They don't get to watch t.v. They get hot and have to wear the same dirty socks and can't wash the sand off of their faces when they want," I told them. They were surprised. They were willing to made thank you cards to hand out at dinner.
As we arrived we realized that we were not alone in our plan to show up early to avoid crowds. We saw many older veterans during our wait. As we stood waiting at the door we did see one servicewoman dressed in full army attire. I did not say anything because I wanted to see if Skylar saw her. Throughout dinner we talked about who we wanted to give our cards to. Dustin shyly said, "I don't know." Adam and I saw one Marine that we had spoken to while waiting. He was now, alone, two tables away. So we pointed him out to Dustin and said that a card would be wonderful for that man. So he gathered all he had for guts and headed to the bathroom in hopes to muster up enough courage to drop it off on the table on his way by. There he went and back he came, still carrying the green card he had made.
Skylar, on the other hand, says, "I know mommy, the lady. I want to give mine to the lady." I knew exactly who she meant and sure enough, as Dustin came out of the bathroom the lady was headed in. So I grabbed Skylar and cornered this poor lady in the restroom. She was tickled pink to hear that Skylar had sought her out and showed us a picture of her little girl that she does not get to see much. She gave Skylar a hug and thanked her though we were the ones who should be doing all the thanking.
As we headed back to our table we noticed the marine was gone but the green card was still sitting on our table. As we cleared our table and headed out, of what seemed like a busy dinner; getting up and down for the bathroom and seeking these servicemen and Kamden, a couple sitting near us said, "Wow, they were wonderfully behaved." I responded with, "Did we pull it off?" They assured me that we had. It felt so nice.
I noticed a veteran license plate on the truck in front of the van, as we were leaving and asked Dustin if he wanted to leave his card there. He quickly said, "Yes." It meant someone would get it but he did not have to timidly do it. Adam and I talked about this marine and felt like we had missed an opportunity that God had given us. Off to Walmart we went to pick up 7 things; always need milk right!? Guess who we saw...the marine. We smiled at him but did not have the card anymore. Then I thought about the purple one I had made "from Kamden" only it was in the car. Missed opportunity number two. We finished shopping, payed for out things, and buckled into the van. Now you will never believe me when I say we saw the marine heading to his car. I quickly requested that Adam get the card and he had parked right in our path of leaving the parking lot. I knew this was the man who was to get the last card.
I pulled up and explained how we felt the Lord had placed us in this place and that he was the man we wanted to thank for his service. He asked if he could thank "our son". Dustin sitting in the back seat, face half covered with is sweatshirt, smiled as this man thanked him for the card.
Though we do not have any spectacular pictures, we do have the memory of the green card.
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