OWLS come to Heroes!

Today the Outer Banks Wildlife Shelter (OWLS) came and did an education program for the entire Toucan Team at Heroes.  OWLS is a non-profit wildlife hospital where injured, sick and orphaned native North Carolina wildlife is cared for in a professional and compassionate manner.  Their mission is to rehabilitate and release the thousands of animals admitted to their clinic each year and to teach fellow North Carolinians how to happily and peacefully coexist with wildlife.  Today they saw a great presentation about Birds of Prey and were able to see a falcon, a barred owl and a screech owl.  Later today in class, they dissected owl pellets and the kids are bringing home their owl pellet treasures today!  Yippee!

I was not able to go but Zach's awesome teacher just emailed all the parents pictures.

10 Years Ago Today

If you asked me what I was doing last Tuesday or the Tuesday before that, I wouldn't be able to tell you.  But if you asked me what I was doing on Tuesday, September 11, 2001 I can tell you exactly where I was and what I was doing.

I was 7 1/2 months pregnant with Grace and was at work at Wallace, Morris and Barwick in Kinston, NC.  Dave was deployed and was in Kosovo at the time.  I had gotten to work and was sitting at my desk, turning on my computer and about to get my day started when my good friend and co-worker, Sonya, walked by and said a plane had flown into the World Trade Center.  All the paralegals in our little group of offices immediately got up and went to the lounge where we had a tiny TV and there were already a few attorneys sitting around watching the news coverage.  We sat there all day...glued to the TV...not able to believe what was unfolding before our eyes.  One of my first reactions was of course Dave and the fact that he was deployed and was supposed to be home in time for the birth of our daughter.  I thought with this happening and the fact that America had just been attacked, there was no way that he would be coming home from deployment.

Throughout the day, I talked to family and loved ones and friends who lived on the military base where we lived.  Security was immediately heightened and I was warned to be prepared for a very long wait to get back on base because of the security and ID checks.  I'm trying to remember if I heard from Dave that day and I'm almost positive I did not.   In fact, I believe they shut down all communication where he was and it was several days before I heard from him.  But amazingly enough he was only delayed coming home by about 10 days and did get home in time for the movers to come and pack us up, move to FL and welcome the birth of our daughter, Grace.

September 11, 2001 changed the lives of so many.  Even though we did not lose a loved one or a friend and actually knew no one that was directly involved in any of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon or on the flight that went down in PA, our lives were also changed.  As of September 2001, Dave had been in the military for almost 9 years and we had already decided that he was going to get out. He's a pilot and thought that he might fly for the airlines upon getting out of the military.  Because of what happened on that fateful day back in 2001 and the events that followed, Dave decided to stay in the military and here we are 10 years later.  We've gone through several more deployments and nights apart, missed holidays and birthdays and are on our last tour as he will retire from the United States Marine Corps in May 2013.

But as I write this today and am saddened by the tragedy of the events and all the lives lost on September 11, 2001, there have been many more lives lost since that fateful day.  According to Faces of the Fallen in The Washington Post, 6,026 US Service Members have died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (as of June 5, 2011).  These are husbands, sons, fathers, brothers, friends, wives, mothers, daughters and sisters but rarely do the deaths of these service members get the media attention that they deserve.  So, on this day I will pray and remember those that died on September 11, 2001 but I will also pray for all the families who have lost loved ones who were serving our Country since that terrible day in 2011 and I ask you to do the same.

And for all my military friends and spouses, I leave you with this.

Letter to a military spouse

While I have never had the pleasure of meeting you or your husband, I felt the need to write you and express a very deep feeling that I have in my heart.

I, as a person, am not brave. I do not tackle things head on, as I hate confrontation. I will travel 100 miles out of my way just to avoid a conflict. I am an American woman that has no idea what is going on in the military other than what I hear on the news.

I have never had to let go of someone so that they could go fight for people that they didn't know, people that sometimes do not appreciate or understand what they are fighting for.

I have never had a sleepless night of worry because of a report that another bomb has exploded and I still haven't heard from my husband.

I have never had to wait for months on end to hold the one that I loved so.

I have never had to tell my children that daddy wasn't coming home tonight because he was so far away fighting for something that they aren't yet old enough to understand.

I have never had to hold my head high and suppress the tears as I hear that it will be at least another six months of separation before my loved one gets to come home.

I have never had to deal with a holiday away from the one that I thought I would share every day of my life with.

And I have never had to feel the panic rising in my heart at the sound of a ringing phone or knock at the door for fear that it is the news that everyone is terrified of getting.

For the reasons listed above, I can not tell you that I understand how you feel. I can not tell you that you must be strong. I can not say that you shouldn't be angry, because you "knew what you were getting into when you married a military man". I can not say these things because I have never had to walk in your shoes.

What I can say for certain is that because of your unselfish acts of bravery and your husbands willingness to stand up for those who see him as "just another soldier" - - I will never have to walk in your shoes.

I do understand that as a military wife you are expected to uphold a certain amount of control, but I never understood how you could do it, until now. I have figured out that you are not like other women. You are of a special breed. You have a strength within you that holds life together in the darkest of hours, a strength of which I will never possess. The faith you have is what makes you stand out in a crowd; it makes you glow with emotion and swell with pride at the mention of The United States of America.

You are a special lady, a wonderful partner and a glorious American.

I have more respect for your husband than I could ever tell you, but until recently I never thought much about those that the soldier leaves at home during deployment.

Until this moment I could never put into words exactly what America meant to me.

Until this moment, I had no real reason to.... Until I heard of you.

Your husband and his military family hold this nation close, safe from those who wish to hurt us...but you and those like you are the backbone of the American family. You keep the wheels in motion and the hearts alive while most would just break completely down. Military families make this nation what it is today.

You give us all hope and you emit a warming light at the end of a long dark tunnel.

Because of you and your family...I am able to be me. I am able to have my family. I am able to walk free in this great land. Because of you and your family, I can look ahead to the future with the knowledge that life is going to be okay. Because of you and your family, I can awake to a new day, everyday.

I realize that you are a stronger person than I will ever be because of these things and I just wanted to take the time today to say thank you to you and your family for allowing me that freedom.

I will never be able to repay this debt to you, as it is unmatchable. However, I hope that you know that no matter where you are...what you are doing...what has happened today...or what will happen tomorrow...Your husband will NEVER be "just another soldier" to me.... And you, dear sweet lady, will never be forgotten.

You are all in my prayer's everyday and I pray that God will bring you back together with your loved one safely.

May God Bless You!

(Author Unknown)

Dolphin Team ~ Celebration of Learning

Zach's class and the rest of the Dolphin Team have been working for weeks on their Celebration Of Learning performance and today was the big day!  Dave and I went to the dress rehearsal yesterday because he was not able to go today.  I cried like a baby yesterday and today was not any better.  I don't know if it was because he has had such a rough year this last semester in this class and then to see them all come together like they did today or if it is because he is just growing up and not my baby anymore or maybe I'm just really hormonal.  Who knows?!?!  But I was not the only one crying so it wasn't JUST me.  The good news is that I was able to hold it together for most of the performance until the very end when they sang "Thank You, Soldiers".  It is a beautiful song, but when it is sung by a group of children and pictures of the kids with their parent who is in the military are flashing across a big screen behind them and a little girl on the front row is bawling as she is singing every word....well, it will just break your heart.  I couldn't contain the tears any longer.  

Thank You, Soldiers

When I lay my head down every night, 

And go to sleep in peace,

I can stay there knowing all is well

While you're standing on your feet.

Keeping watch, protecting shore to shore

In the air and oceans, too.

Defending freedom at all cost, 

For the red, white and the blue.

Thank you, oh thank you,

Men and women, brave and strong.

To those who served so gallantly

We sing this grateful song.

To the soldiers who have traveled on

To countries far and near

In peace and war you paid the price

For the cause you hold so dear.

That we may wake each morning bright

And know that freedom rings

Because of your great sacrifice

Your country joins to sing...

Zachary with his teacher, Mrs. Thompson

A Day in Wilmington

Papa, Dave's Dad, and Rebecca, Dave's sister, came to visit us over Memorial Day weekend.  The kids love their Papa and Aunt Becky so it was a fun weekend.  We went to Wilmington today and had lunch downtown on the water at The George on the Riverwalk and it was yummy as always.  Then we walked up the street to the Cape Fear Serpentarium.  I knew that Zachary would love it and even Grace enjoyed it for the most part.  Me, on the other hand, not so much.  I thought the first few glass cases of snakes were interesting and even the man-eating crocodile but it got to the point that I had seen one snake to many.  Even the smell of the place was making me nauseous and I had to go and sit down.  I could not wait to leave!  Rebecca was feeling kind of the same way but I think hers was for a different reason.  You see, she has joined the Peace Corps and is going to be moving to Tanzania for about 2 years.  She learned while we were at the Serpentarium that many of their most deadliest snakes were from Tanzania.  Definitely doesn't give a person something to look forward to.  But while we were there, we got to meet "Bubble Boy", a 12 foot long Saltwater Crocodile, "Wilma", a 340 lb Gian Anaconda, "Sheena", a 23 ft long reticulated Python, "Komodo", a dragon-sized monitor lizard and "Goldstein", the 15 ft long King Cobra!

 This was the man-eating crocodile.

After the serpentarium, we went to the USS North Carolina Battleship Memorial.  We've driven by it many times and have seen it from the riverwalk but never actually been to it.  It was awesome!  We were able to walk through most of it and the see so much!  The kids loved it even though it got very hot and tiring at some points.  We definitely recommend touring it if you are in the area and have never done it before.

When the keel of NORTH CAROLINA was laid in October of 1937, she was the first battleship to be constructed in sixteen years. She became the first of ten fast battleships to join American fleet in World War II. NORTH CAROLINA (BB 55) and her sister ship, WASHINGTON (BB 56), comprised the NORTH CAROLINA Class. Following them were the SOUTH DAKOTA Class – SOUTH DAKOTA (BB 57), INDIANA (BB 58), MASSACHUSETTS (BB 59), and ALABAMA (BB 60) – and the IOWA Class - IOWA (BB 61), NEW JERSEY (BB 62), MISSOURI (BB 63), and WISCONSIN (BB 64).

At the time of her commissioning on 9 April 1941, she was considered the world’s greatest sea weapon. Armed with nine 16-inch/45 caliber guns in three turrets and twenty 5-inch/38 caliber guns in ten twin mounts, NORTH CAROLINA proved a formidable weapons platform. Her wartime complement consisted of 144 commissioned officers and 2,195 enlisted men, including about 100 Marines.

During World War II, NORTH CAROLINA participated in every major naval offensive in the Pacific area of operations and earned 15 battle stars. In the Battle of the Eastern Solomon’s in August of 1942, the Battleship’s anti-aircraft barrage helped save the carrier ENTERPRISE, thereby establishing the primary role of the fast battleship as protector of aircraft carriers. One of her Kingfisher pilots performed heroically during the strike on Truk when he rescued ten downed Navy aviators on 30 April 1944. In all, NORTH CAROLINA carried out nine shore bombardments, sank an enemy troopship, destroyed at least 24 enemy aircraft, and assisted in shooting down many more. Her anti-aircraft guns helped halt or frustrate scores of attacks on aircraft carriers. She steamed over 300,000 miles. Although Japanese radio announcements claimed six times that NORTH CAROLINA had been sunk, she survived many close calls and near misses with one hit when a Japanese torpedo slammed into the Battleship’s hull on 15 September 1942. A quick response on the part of the crew allowed the mighty ship to keep up with the fleet. By war’s end, the Ship lost only ten men in action and had 67 wounded.

After serving as a training vessel for midshipmen, NORTH CAROLINA was decommissioned 27 June 1947 and placed in the Inactive Reserve Fleet in Bayonne, New Jersey, for the next 14 years.  In 1958 the announcement of her impending scrapping led to a statewide campaign by citizens of North Carolina to save the ship from the scrappers torches and bring her back to her home state. The Save Our Ship (SOS) campaign was successful and the Battleship arrived in her current berth on 2 October 1961.  She was dedicated on 29 April 1962 as the State's memorial to its World War II veterans and the 10,000 North Carolinians who died during the war.

Did you know that the Battleship North Carolina was designed to carry 1,800 men, but by the end of WWII she was home to over 2,300?  The crew slept in metal bunks stacked five tiers high.  The ship is 729 fee (approx. 2 1/2 football fields) in length.  Her top speed was 28 knots or almost 32 miles an hour.  She averaged 1 mile per 145 gallons.  During the war she steamed 307,988 miles.  The Battleship North Carolina made its own electrical power producing 8.4 megawatts of electricity, enough to power a small town of 6,500 people.  The Battleship could carry 120 days of food supplies including: 7,800 eggs, 16,800 lbs. of butter, 94,200 lbs. of sugar, 214,000 lbs. of fresh meat, 466,000 lbs. fresh vegetables and 135,000 lbs. fresh fruit!

 This was one of the views from the battleship.  The blue and red building is the restaurant where Dave and I celebrated our anniversary this year.

 For whatever reason, Zach decided to salute almost every time his picture was taken today.