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| With our Fabulous Service Members! |
Born in Fort Worth, Texas, I have lived in the Dallas/Fort Worth area all of life. I never cease to wonder how I have been so fortunate to be living so close to DFW Ariport, the home of "Welcome Home A Hero" program, a program designed to let our deployed Military know how much they are appreciated upon their arrival at DFW Airport to begin 15 days of much-deserved R&R (rest and recuperation). Work schedule permitting, I arrive at DFW with Boomer and Boomer's Dad, my husband Sam, ready to show my support for our Military. I never tire of meeting the men and women who are sacrificing so much half a world away, not only keeping us safe here in the States, but helping others so far away to have a better life.
While Sam and Boomer meet the soldiers, I am busy playing "The Candy Lady" and what I call "The Unofficial Traffic Director." As The Candy Lady, I have a .308 ammo box Sam converted into a box that houses everything from shaving cream to bubble gum. There is something for everyone, smokers and kids included. As the Unofficial Traffic Director, my objective it to make sure our Troops have a stress-free time when boarding buses to take them to their connecting flights home. Whatever a service member needs, I do my best to assist, whether it's the use of my cell phone or the location of the rental car area. There's no question that can't be answered. If I don't know the answer myself, I will do whatever it takes to find the appropriate person who can help.
Showing my support and appreciation is not the only reason I am so adamant about the program. I had been going to R&R (my terminology for the greeter's program) since 10 July 2005, when I was purchasing a birthday present for my mother-in-law at a local retailer the last week of October 2005. During the course of a conversation with a store employee, the employee told me how she had had a husband, brother and brother-in-law all in Vietnam at the same time. I asked her if they all made it home safely and she said yes, but her brother came home with problems. He drank too much and was so depressed, she was afraid he was suicidal. He would call her in the middle of the night and she would keep him on the phone until the last second before desperately trying to get to work on time at a local airport. After several months of nightly phone calls, he finally admitted he could have handled his combat experiences in Vietnam and been able to move on with his life if he had not been treated so disgacefully upon his return. The treatment he received from the citizens of his own country was simply too much to bare coupled with the combat.
That conversation proved to be a turning point for me. From that conversation forward, R&R was no longer just a way to express my support and appreciation. It forever changed how I viewed the entire scenario. What started out as a way to support our Military, became a mission, almost a crusade I reasoned if mistreatment could push a soldier to the verge of suicide, then I knew in my heart the opposite had to be true. When a service member says, "Thank you, Ma'am, for being here. Thank you for your support," I always think, "Oh, if you just knew the real reason I'm here. I'm not here just to say thank you; I'm here to change the course of the rest of life." Lofty aspirations, I know. But if I or any of the other volunteers have altered for the better how just one service member views his deployment and/or military career, then I am happy. If we have made just one service member feel like his service and sacrifice have not been in vain, then I can resoundingly say, "Mission accomplished!"
As I stand out on the sidewalk at the airport while "directing traffic" and passing out Tootsie Pops, my favorite words to hear from a service member will forever be, "I feel like a rock star!" Absolute music to my ears!
And if you can't remember my name, just call me "Boomer's Mom."
