Monday, December 12, 2005

Christmas Wish

I’ve known Sgt. Steven Terrell of the Florida National Guard for several years. He is the "Readiness NCO" at the Cocoa Armory. His unit is currently stationed in Afghanistan.
My wife Barbara teaches kindergarten (she should get double my pay) on Merritt Island and she currently has Sgt. Terrell’s youngest son, Sting, (I’m not making that up.) in her class. She also had Sting’s older brother, Steven, (nice name) last year. Sting’s mother relayed the following about Steven:

The church they attend sponsors an "Angel Tree." This year the church decided to put the children of deployed soldiers on the tree. Steven told his mom that he was going to be a "big boy" and write out his own wish on the card for the Angel Tree.

A few days later Steven’s mother received a phone call from a representative of our local VFW. (Veterans of Foreign Wars.) The man from the VFW wanted to know if flag poles were allowed in her subdivision? Steven’s mom asked, "What are you talking about? I didn’t request a flagpole." The VFW Rep. asked if Steven was her son? She replied in the affirmative but still insisted she didn’t know anything about a flagpole in her yard.

The VFW Rep. told her Steven had written the following wish on his card: "I wish for an American Flag that I can fly for my Dad in Afghanistan." As you can imagine Mrs. Terrell had to compose herself. She then told the VFW Rep. flagpoles were allowed in her neighborhood but she didn’t have the money at the moment. The VFW Rep. told her the VFW would proudly pay all expenses.

The he asked to confirm a date of December 20th to present her son with a flag as well as ask permission for news media to be present. The mentioned of news media astonished Mrs. Terrell. She was proud of her son but didn’t think the incident warranted local coverage.
The VFW Rep. said, "Ma'm, you don’t understand. You see, a friend of one of your church members heard about Steven’s wish. Her husband was killed on 9/11 at the World Trade Center. She has decided to give the flag that was given to her by the President of the United States to your son to honor his wish and his father.

Let us all say a prayer for the men and women in the armed forces that are away from their families protecting our country. Oh, don’t forget to remember the Terrell Family.

Comments:
Thanks Greg.
The unconditional love of a son for his father touches a special place in my heart and apparently others as well.
Perhaps I can stop using xvgho in my hair now?
 
I thought so as well Judy. This lady is honoring her husband as well as Sgt. Terrell and putting that flag to good use.
 
Wow. Got a lump in my throat.

A good friend of mine just came home on Monday. I haven't seen him yet...we're all giving him and his family time to catch up. But I can't imagine being away from my son (and he has two...not much older) for a year. I'm so proud of him and all those who serve us this way.

Thanks for sharing this, Cecil.
 
No problem Steve. My eyes turned on the waterworks when I heard about his little boy. I was in 2nd grade when my father was deployed overseas for a year.
xarxtorq (xarx is really mad)
 
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