Marshall is HOME!!

Marshall is finally back in the good U.S. of A. after being in Iraq since August! We're lucky in the fact that his tour was short compared to a lot of other soldiers, but we already know that his stay at home is short lived. He will be going back for his 2nd tour in August. :(

When he was in customs in Iraq he phoned to say he was about to get on the plane and kind of hinted if there was going to be anyone greeting him upon his arrival. I told him unfortunately we just didn't have the money for it, especially with his other brother's high school graduation coming up. You could hear the disappointment in his voice, but he understood. Little did he know that we had a surprise for him!

That Thursday my husband flew to meet his plane. He was arriving an hour earlier than Marshall's so that he could meet him at his gate. But, we were in for the surprise! We had been waiting for a phone call from Marshall when they arrived the day before in Baltimore, but we had not heard from him. As my husband was waiting at the gate, I received a phone call from my daughter-in-law saying that Marshall's troop had been delayed in Qatar and their arrival was pushed back a couple of days! Oh NO!! My husband waited around at the airport just in case Marshall's troop made it on the flight, but he did not. So, we scurried around and found him a hotel.

Early, early in the morning Tom received a phone call from Marshall from Ireland! He asked if he was going to work and Tom told him that he was in a hotel waiting for him to get there!! Marshall sounded surprised and happy that someone was there to see him come in! After a few more delays through Chicago and a co-pilot not making it for their connecting flight. Marshall's flight was due to arrive at midnight! At that time Tom was the only one in the airport to greet him and his troop. Everyone else in the airport had gone home. No TSA agents, no gate agents and only one guy in baggage claim.

I called Tom at about 11:55pm to let him know that it looked like Marshall's flight had arrived on time and that he should be walking through at any moment. Tom then said, there was a hubbub going on at the airport! Turns out that the Patriot Guard showed up to welcome the soldiers home! Tom said it was really great! They had flags and cameras and it was a great sight at midnight for Marshall and his guys to have that kind of welcome.

Marshall and his dad made it back to his house and they stayed up until 5am talking! It's been really great for both of them!

Another Marshall Update

We finally heard from Marshall again!! It's been awhile since we heard from Marshall. It was only a brief phone call, but we'll take it. His 21st birthday was October 24th and he's been pretty busy with his job in Iraq and also studying for his CDC's.

Marshall said he has gotten a lot more letters and packages and he is so appreciative of all the well wishes for his birthday and support. He said some of the most unusual items he has received were a gelled eye mask to help him sleep during the day and that he was also sent a box of tampons!! He said he didn't have any girls in his troop to give those to, but maybe they can use them to absorb something!!! LOL!!

I'll continue to post on my blog updates on Marshall when we get them. He said he did send a package back to us and I'm hoping he put the cameras in that. If so, I will post the pictures we get back.

Again, thank you to everyone in helping to make his 21st birthday a memorable one!

Marshall in Iraq!

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.

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!