To all of you,
Thank you ever-so much for your expressions of compassions. I am overwhelmed to say the least at the very thought that I may never see your faces, but clearly I see your hearts. Thank You All!
I haven't had once night of sound sleep since my son, Dezmond gave me the news of his exodus. I have awakened every night in fright and going straight to CNN, seems like I just couldn't get enough of it. It got so bad that I began to have chest pains and I knew that I needed to calm down. The only things that really calms me is talking to God and that is exactly what I did. I told God to make me as brave as he'd made my son. A couple of days passed and I thought I should try getting out of the house and turn off CNN and give God an opportunity to talk back. Today, that is just what happened. As I pulled into the parking lot of a local store I saw a soldier walking pass me and my heart began to flutter, "What can I say to him, I needed to say something but what in the name of God do I say?" God said, "Tell him you are the mother of a soldier!" I yelled out, "Hey Soldier, I am the mother of a soldier!" He stopped instantly and saluted me! I could only stand there stunned and tears began to flow. He tapped on the window of his car and another Soldier stepped out. Together they walked towards me. They comforted me! A proudness fell upon me and the crying just stopped. We talked in 27degrees about the war. One Soldier said, he'd already been there and would return after the holidays. The other Soldier said, He was going on Christmas Eve. They both told me not to worry. Not to look at CNN and to have faith. This was a very overwhelming expierence for me. One Soldier said that when he first went over, they slept in the desert but before he left they were in a building where they could email home regularly. He told me of the schools, shelters, hospitals and clinics that had been built and continued to tell me of all these great things that our troops had done that I didn't hear much about in the news.
How selfish of me is all I could think, to want my son right here in my view. It was in that moment that I understood and realized the creed of a Soldier and what it really means to be the mother of a soldier. You see, from a child at about age 3-4, my eldest son's favorite toys had always been toy Soldiers. He just wasn't my son, he was the son of "America" to top all that, I recieved such a feeling of bravery and knew then that God had me at the right place at the right time to become encouraged. Then I come to the "Lottery Post" to share this information with Todd, only to find this most encouraging thread, as I read through, what stood out was the comment that Todd wrote, "There is a very positive force created by people who care for one another, and I hope you can take comfort in that."
I can tell you two things and one is that I am so proud that I am the "Mother of a Soldier" and the second is I am so proud to be a member at "The Lottery Post" there are no words to thank the lot of you for your kindness. I don't know how to express the emotions that I feel at this moment other than I am overwhelmed in a good way. Thank you all so very much.