October is a busy birthday month! Not only is it my birthday, but it's also one of my son's birthday too!! Marshall will be turning 21 on October 24th! 
Not only is this one of those special birthdays, but he is in the Air Force and is currently in Iraq. When we found out he was going to Iraq, it was a bit upsetting, but being in the Armed Forces it was to be expected. When I realized he was going to be spending this momentous occasion there, I got really upset. As I've said in my previous posts, birthdays are very important to me and it just really got to me that he was going to be celebrating a rather poignant birthday without family or close friends.
Before he left we threw him a surprise 21st birthday party with friends and family. He enjoyed that, but it was more like a going away party as it was two months before his actual birthday. We did have a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday. And even though we tried to get the feel for that moment, it's just not the same when you are doing it two months in advance.
Then, I thought of a great idea!! If he can't be here for the party, we'll just bring the party to him. I am fortunate to be on a LOT of group lists, so I called out to the members of those lists to help participate in a mail in type surprise party for my son!!! It entailed sending a birthday card or note to wish Marshall a Happy 21st Birthday!! The response was overwhelming!! People from all over the world emailed me to let me know that they were going to send a card or letter or even a package to let Marshall know that they were thinking of him on his birthday!
I cannot thank everyone enough of how I appreciate each and everyone one of you and how heartfelt it is that all of you would do that to make my son's birthday so special.
One woman even emailed to let me know that her husband was there in the same area as my son and is the Seargant Major of his unit! She said that she was going to email him and ask him to do something special for my son for his birthday! How awesome was that!
Even though I wanted this as a surprise to Marshall, I knew I was going to have to let him in on the secret just a little. I sent him an email to say I had something cooking for him and he was going to have to make sure and check his mail!
This is what he wrote back:
Hey I got your Birthday gift From The Master Seargent lol in front of Guardmount ( which is the flight i work with and guardmount is we get briefings before we go work so we know whats going on and what to be aware of) He came in and said "Brown where are you", i stood up and he said "Get to the front." so i was like uhhh i have roll call training but then he said" your mom emailed my wife in a soap forum and she told me to give you this gift," willingly i said "okay"..... he said "CLOSE YOUR EYES" ummmm whats going on ....... i closed my eyes and he gave me a hug with everyone watching i looked up in surprise and said " uhhhhhhhh wow, thanks i guess" so uhhh thank you lol ha ya that was weird but cool its a small world i guess you got to talk to the flight chiefs wife in a soap forum awesome!!!!! anyways ya i have been checkin the mail every day and hope it gets here okay!!!!
He also went into further detail about what happened with the Seargant Major when we were on the phone. Marshall is in Unit B and the Seargant is in Unit A of their troop, so seeing the Seargan Major was completely unexpected which made it even more special!
I talked to him last week around October 12, and since then he said he has received 75 letters
and two packages! The mail person told him he is loved! He said they couldn't all be for him as he didn't know that many people! He said, once he started reading the letters and realized that they were all from people who knew his mom, and that they were all wishing him a Happy Birthday, he thought it was really cool. I sent him a box with disposable cameras in it and he said he put all the cards and letters on his bed and took pictures of them.
Not only is this one of those special birthdays, but he is in the Air Force and is currently in Iraq. When we found out he was going to Iraq, it was a bit upsetting, but being in the Armed Forces it was to be expected. When I realized he was going to be spending this momentous occasion there, I got really upset. As I've said in my previous posts, birthdays are very important to me and it just really got to me that he was going to be celebrating a rather poignant birthday without family or close friends.
Before he left we threw him a surprise 21st birthday party with friends and family. He enjoyed that, but it was more like a going away party as it was two months before his actual birthday. We did have a birthday cake and sang Happy Birthday. And even though we tried to get the feel for that moment, it's just not the same when you are doing it two months in advance.
Then, I thought of a great idea!! If he can't be here for the party, we'll just bring the party to him. I am fortunate to be on a LOT of group lists, so I called out to the members of those lists to help participate in a mail in type surprise party for my son!!! It entailed sending a birthday card or note to wish Marshall a Happy 21st Birthday!! The response was overwhelming!! People from all over the world emailed me to let me know that they were going to send a card or letter or even a package to let Marshall know that they were thinking of him on his birthday!
I cannot thank everyone enough of how I appreciate each and everyone one of you and how heartfelt it is that all of you would do that to make my son's birthday so special.
One woman even emailed to let me know that her husband was there in the same area as my son and is the Seargant Major of his unit! She said that she was going to email him and ask him to do something special for my son for his birthday! How awesome was that!
Even though I wanted this as a surprise to Marshall, I knew I was going to have to let him in on the secret just a little. I sent him an email to say I had something cooking for him and he was going to have to make sure and check his mail!
This is what he wrote back:
Hey I got your Birthday gift From The Master Seargent lol in front of Guardmount ( which is the flight i work with and guardmount is we get briefings before we go work so we know whats going on and what to be aware of) He came in and said "Brown where are you", i stood up and he said "Get to the front." so i was like uhhh i have roll call training but then he said" your mom emailed my wife in a soap forum and she told me to give you this gift," willingly i said "okay"..... he said "CLOSE YOUR EYES" ummmm whats going on ....... i closed my eyes and he gave me a hug with everyone watching i looked up in surprise and said " uhhhhhhhh wow, thanks i guess" so uhhh thank you lol ha ya that was weird but cool its a small world i guess you got to talk to the flight chiefs wife in a soap forum awesome!!!!! anyways ya i have been checkin the mail every day and hope it gets here okay!!!!
He also went into further detail about what happened with the Seargant Major when we were on the phone. Marshall is in Unit B and the Seargant is in Unit A of their troop, so seeing the Seargan Major was completely unexpected which made it even more special!
I talked to him last week around October 12, and since then he said he has received 75 letters
and two packages! The mail person told him he is loved! He said they couldn't all be for him as he didn't know that many people! He said, once he started reading the letters and realized that they were all from people who knew his mom, and that they were all wishing him a Happy Birthday, he thought it was really cool. I sent him a box with disposable cameras in it and he said he put all the cards and letters on his bed and took pictures of them.As soon as I get those, I will develop them and post them here for everyone to see. I will also continue to update my blog when I hear from Marshall. Again, thank you to everyone for making this happen!
0 comments:
Post a Comment