A Marine Mom's Journey

Subject: Wounded Warrior
Time: 4:34:49 PM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Hopeful

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Wounded Warrior Project Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes IT'S NOT ABOUT THE WAR ~ IT'S ABOUT THE WARRIOR!! Please help Gny Sgt Willis obtain his goal...I applaud his efforts, it's all about helping wounded Vets get back to normal!! http://www.active.com/donate/H4W-TWW/corywillis Remember--You might not be part of the problem...but you CAN be part of the solution!!!

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Subject: TROOPS RESPOND!!!!
Time: 8:45:36 PM EST
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Happy

This is GREAT...I am glad to see they have a sense of humor.....

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Subject: A LONG....LONG...Time, sorry
Time: 11:38:57 PM EST
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Chillin'

It HAS been a long time...but really it's just about a month and a half...it feels so much longer though.  So much has happened...Jesse is an offical civialian, and working hard, laying Granite again. He had a job, lost it...got another job...then was offered a better job at another Granite company.  All withing this past month, so see, things have been busy around here.  He also turned 23 on the 25th...where did those past four years go...they seem like a blur now.  Although when we were doing the deployment thing it wasn't!!  He will be the best man in his friend's wedding in Nov, he's nervous but excited about it at the same time. He really has grown to be a remarkable young man, at times a little moody still...but I guess the war will do that to you.  I miss all the guys and thier families I met that were in the Corps with him..but somehow life goes on.  It's like Jesse said, "Aw Mom, we always say we'll get together but we never will...that's just life after the Corps".

I love my new job...learning new things everyday...it proves we are never too old to learn!

I have a My Space...I might transfer this BLOG to that...we'll see...it is so hard to write in this now that AOL has gone FREE...it keeps knocking me off and I have to start all over...and forget it if I want to add pics....what a hassel!

MY LOVE TO ALL...I am STILL a proud Marine Mom!!!!

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Subject: HOOTIE AND THE BLOWFISH!!
Time: 9:45:55 PM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Happy

We had such a good weekend…Dave and I surprised Rick for his birthday…we got tickets to the Hootie and the Blowfish concert at the Ford Amphi-Theater. Rick brought his friend Matt (he has known Matt for about 18 years).  Jesse and Juliet came too!!  It was a good concert…and Rick’s first concert, so he was really surprised. I kept teasing Rick so he had no clue…I told him we were going to the truck rodeo.  We got 2 adjoining rooms at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino, so after the concert we all went back there.  The rooms were VERY nice…very contemporary. Then we all went down to the casino and did a little gambling, not much just enough to have fun.  Rick’s friend Matt was the only one who won anything…he won $130!! That Hard Rock place was out of this world…while we were out, they turned down our beds and put chocolate guitars on our pillows and terry robes on the beds and gave us fresh towels.

I wanted to do something special for Rick’s birthday, since he has been so patient with me through both of Jesse’s deployments. There were a lot of times he would come up and hug me just because he could tell I needed one! I can’t believe Rick is 27 now…and to think he almost didn’t make it when he was born (he was twin ‘A’ of a set of twins born 11 weeks premature and weighed about 2-1/2 lbs, and one VERY sick baby, the other twin Jamie died at 3-1/2 months old from respiratory failure).  Even though he’s handicapped…you would never know it by the love he shows others!  He’s my miracle child in every way…I love him so much!!

Jesse was officially a civilian on Rick’s birthday…4 years to the day he went to boot camp…wow that time flew by!! Jesse said tonight it didn’t go by fast for him though…he said every second was like an eternity to him.  Now we have to get through the next 4 years with no recall, since he is on inactive reserves.  Just wondering…is it “Once a Marine Mom always a Marine Mom” too???  Just kidding, I know the answer to that one! 

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Subject: House Sitting
Time: 12:00:30 AM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Chillin'

Today, I went to Jesse’s house (for the second time) to wait for Jesse’s TV guy to come install the Dish…he is going with satellite.  Anyway, they said someone had to be there from 12-5, so the last Friday I sat at Jesse’s house…the guy finally came at 4:50 and then decided he couldn’t do it.  We rescheduled for today between 12-5…again I waited till 4:55…this time the guys says he could do it!!  I finished ‘cutting in’ some of the painting in the hall that I completely forgot about.  Soooooo, I am all done with the painting…yoo-hooo!! 

JD is in and the guys have their rooms all set up…definitely a bachelors pad!  But seriously they are really happy to be together and I am pleased that it worked out this way.  JD told me today he believed it was a “God Thing”, and that is just what I needed to hear!

I am anxious to start on my “office” here at home…not to rush Jesse out of the house, but I have a vision of what I would like his room to look like. But first I promised Rick that I would paint his bathroom and ‘office’…never a dull moment around here that’s for sure.  I guess that’s how I keep busy.  I am going to start on Rick’s bathroom…he picked out the colors, I think it will be real sharp (of course I’ll post pictures).

We spent yesterday at my In-Laws pool…we had a cook-out/pool party.  Dave’s Aunt and Uncle from Chi-town are here. It was a nice time!!

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Subject: What a week
Time: 12:56:56 AM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Ecstatic

Jesse’s been home 2 weeks now…he drove home on Wed (16th), as I was driving up to meet Dave and his band God’s Country in Valdosta, GA.  We were going to try to meet up in GA but Jesse called me on my cell and said he just wanted to head home.  I know there was a reason why I wasn’t home in FL when Jesse got home, I’m sure God planned it that way for a reason.  Jesse got home late Wed and by Friday he found a job.  I was a bit surprised because I thought he would want a week or two off to chill, he said he had relaxed long enough…so he started his new job on Monday (21st).  He is cutting and installing Granite, mostly countertops.  He really seems to like it, and he said he is the first one there every morning…not that’s motivation.  His Staff Sgt. would be proud of him!!  Plus, I am hoping to reap the benefits of his new profession!!  We have been working to get his house ready…although he doesn’t seem to be in a big rush to leave the house.  I love having him here…but maybe by this weekend he will move to his place.  His friend J.D. will be moving in with him…another ‘God Thing” I believe…I feel that Jesse and J.D. will be good for each other.

Jesse and Juliet are doing good…she is so patient with Jesse, which is really what he needs right now.  She will really earn her ‘wings’ as she travels this post-‘Marine Corps’ journey with Jesse.

Dave’s and my trip to GA was great.  His band played at several Nursing Homes, which just about broke my heart.  These ‘old folks’ barely knew their names or where they were, but when the band played those old gospel hymns they could sing every song by heart.  One old guy in a wheel chair that was all crippled over sat with his head hung low.  When the band started singing ‘Amazing Grace’ he just started sobbing, you could see his shoulders shaking as he sobbed.  It broke my heart and truly humbled me…I wanted to run over and wrap my arms around him.  I learned to appreciate having my Mom home, with us.  Some people have no one!

On another note…the vet ‘tweaked’ Luke’s Prednisoine and he started getting aggressive.  When I was in GA with Dave, he bit Rhianna (our Mini-Pin).  Thank God Jesse was home, because he pulled Luke off Rhianna.  It could have been worse, because Luke is 90 pounds and Rhianna is 10 pounds.  Whew!!

Last Monday Dave and I went bike riding…on our pedal bikes…and I wiped out.  My bike didn’t make a curb, it stopped, and I didn’t.  I really racked myself up.  My knee, hands jaw (I hit my chin on the concrete).  I went to the Chiropractor today and she put me back together  ;)

My best girlfriend’s daughter had her baby on the 25th.  They live in VA and Jesse grew up with Heather.  He used to drive up and see them when he was on base.  Heather named the baby Cohen James…she gave the baby Jesse’s middle name!!  He was so thrilled.

All in all he seems tobe doing good…but, I was talking about some of the other guys that are struggling to adjust after the ‘Corps’…and he looked at me and said “It’s all about how they show it.  Some people keep it inside, and some people let it out.  How do you know I just not hiding it from you now???”

Actually made me stop and think…

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Subject: Homecoming
Time: 11:00:25 AM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Sad

Please pray for Jesse as he travels home...I am sure it is a bittersweet homecoming.  He has been through so much in the last 4 years...2 deployments, gaining AND losing Many friends, good-sad-and bad times, and he has experienced things we will never truly know or understand.  I'm sure he is emotionally raw right now...please pray for him and all the Marines.....

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Subject: What a change.....
Time: 11:32:41 PM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Ecstatic

Well, Jesse has about 3 more days...whew, it's almost here and I am so anxious...I can only imagine how he's feeling and what he's thinking!  For 4 years this has been my 'life' Marine Mom and now I have to turn the page and start something new.  So if I am feeling anxious about this change, I can only imagine the thoughts and feeling Jesse is having.  ALL the guys are getting out about the same time give or take a few months.  Jesse said they always say they are going to keep in touch...but life gets in the way and they drift apart.  That must be hard for them all, since they have really bonded through some VERY trying times.  I wish we could host something down here in Florida, that would be so cool! 

Dave and I hung verticals and blinds today...his house looks so nice...WHAT A CHANGE!!  I think Jesse is really looking forward to his own place, and I am too.  I think it will be too hard for him to move back home after he's been gone for 4 years...especially gone in the Marine Corps for 4 years.

Dave's band is playing in GA next week...I am going up to join him and Jesse is going to stop with us on his way home from Camp Lejeune.  It should be a nice change for all!!

Enjoy the pictures of Jesse's place...God has been good and supplied a lot of the needed work and furniture.  The guy that put in the doors, windows, hot water heater, dishwasher, kitchen counter top and kitchen faucet decided not to charge us for his labor...he said it was his good deed for the year!!  Another friend took out the old heater and patched the LARGE hole in the wall and patched the holes when we took down the 3 mirrors in the living room and fixed the broken wall in the spare bedroom from the wall air unit...and then wouldn't even take money for materials he bought.  And Dave's cousin put the air in at cost plus a little extra. We got the furniture from garage sales.  Like I said "GOD WAS GOOD"...I hope Jesse sees the good from all of this!  BUT believe me I have left a lot of work for him...the 'Florida room' has not been touched and when he gets home...I am done!!  OOOrraaahhhh!!

I love all of you who have been faithful supporting me with prayers and kind thoughts and deeds...you are all TRUE friends.

PLEASE continue the prayers as we enter this new phase in our lives!!

Take Care & God Bless
Juli Rae
Proud Marine Mom of
PFC Jesse Wood~Purple Heart Recipient

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Subject: 12 days.........
Time: 12:29:56 AM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli
Mood:  Happy



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Subject: Don't FORGET...
Time: 11:49:05 PM EDT
Author:  marinemomjuli

PLEASE don't forget about the men and woman fighting over seas...keep them in your prayers!

A recent post from my Marine Mom Online group...

          DOD Identifies Marine Casualties
        Date: Mon Jul 31, 2006 7:26 pm (PDT)

The Department of Defense announced today the death of four Marines who  were
supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Lance Cpl. James W.  Higgins, 22, of Frederick, Md., died July 27
from wounds received while  conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province,
Iraq.  He was  assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine
Division, I Marine  Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Lance Cpl. Adam R. Murray,  21, of Cordova, Tenn., died July 27 while
conducting combat operations in Al  Anbar province, Iraq.  He was assigned to
3rd Battalion, 8th Marine  Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine
Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune,  N.C.

Cpl. Timothy D. Roos, 21, of Cincinnati, Ohio, died July 27 from  wounds
received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province,  Iraq.  He
was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine  Division, II
Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Pfc.  Enrique C. Sanchez, 21, of Garner, N.C., died July 27 while conducting
combat  operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  He was assigned to  3rd
Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine  Expeditionary
Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

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