"Daddy Deploys Today" Memorial Day Tribute

"Daddy deploys today." 

Memorial Day Deployment 

Today's Memorial Day. There will be hot dogs grillin' with badminton and 'corn hole' being played all across America. We did all of the above yesterday, because in this home, where we are visiting, "Daddy deploys today." I took the picture above without staging. True glimpse into the life of a pilot in the Ohio Air Guard. Captain Mettle will deploy later this afternoon. At this moment his desert boots are sitting beside the flotsam and jetsam treasures of his Little Red. Later today there will be hugs and squeezes amid tears and then those same boots will move on to the heat of the other side of the world.  

Memorial Day. We honor the sacrifice of generations before us. What does that mean in 2013?  

Captain Mettle holds Kindergarten Art Inspired by "Red, White and Blue" 

How did I 'land' in the position of 'suddenly' being surrounded by the military? My husband is a Navy Veteran, having served aboard the original USS John F. Kennedy. He had the responsibility of giving the final signal before the fighter planes screeched off the flight deck of the aircraft carrier and then of tying down those same planes in the middle of oceanic storms, where he saw waves surging over the flight deck some 75 feet above the sea. I have two children. Daughter #1 is married to Captain Mettle pictured above, flying out today. Daughter #2 is also married to a Navy-man, stationed permanently in Annapolis. 

I didn't see this coming. Wasn't I the daisy loving peace-nik? I didn't ever envision September 11th either. 

Remember, Tuesday, 9-11 of 2001? I know you remember exactly where you were when you heard the news. My happy little polka-dotted life has had quite an adventure since that crystal clear blue sky day changed everything in our collective history. On Friday of that week, the official national day of prayer and mourning, I wrote a little dittie for the preschool children of the New Albany Jewish Center to sing to their parents and grandparents on the steps of the synagogue as I led that memorable Tot Shabbat. As the protestant P.K. (pastor's kid) leading the assembled in Hebrew every week as the candles were lit, I was well in over my head already. Leading prayers on the day of national prayer and mourning? I wanted to call in sick. What could I possibly do in this setting, under these circumstances that would be appropriate for children? 

Pre-September 11th Fourth Fest

They were mostly three and four years old. What could I do? Brainstorm. I had a flag bag, filled with American flags. By Friday of that week, you couldn't buy the American flag in America -- they were sold out -- but I had a bag of flags from earlier festive Fourth of July fun. Whatever the children would sing had to be simple. It had to be something that I could teach the wee-ones that morning, to sing at noon for the massive number of extended family members who would arrive to join us in worship. 

"Red, white and blue. I love you. Red, white and blue. I love you."

Sufficiently simple. There wasn't a dry eye in the synagogue. I was able to strum my guitar, but I couldn't look at the children for fear of totally, completely and utterly 'losing it.' They sang with innocence, the kind of direct purity that only the tiniest can convey. They waved their flags sweetly, completely unaware of what had happened days earlier. They kept hope alive that we would make it through the coming weekend. Who knew what ledge of destruction we were poised on? Hope won out that day. The children kept the candle light glowing with their sincerity.

That day seems a long time ago now. My daughters are grown, graduated and out on their own. I'm a grandma now.  At the prompting of teachers I ended up developing those two lines into an official Dittie with a capital D. We recorded it in the studio with a full complement of background singers and sweet children's voices adding their clarity and heart. Then piece by piece, year by year later those simple words became the text of what would become my picture book version of the song. (Yes. There is a CD insert of the song included.)

True story.  I had finished piecing together the Thanksgiving quilt that would illustrate the final verse of the song. I had an 'empty chair' in the corner of all of the activity that surrounds a community coming together for a meal of thanks. My daughter Sarah looked at me, and said, "I know what you're trying to say with the empty chair. No child will ever 'get that.' It would have been better if you'd have had Scott coming home in his uniform in time for turkey." At the time she said those words, Scott was literally in Afghanistan and would indeed be returning in time for turkey. {Out of the mouths of babes.} I don't think I have a picture of the 'before' quilt, but this is the amended version, with a 6 foot 4 pilot-in-fabric inserted at the eleventh hour. 

Once she put that thought into my heart, I realized I finally had the 'solution' for the final quilt I still needed to design and piece together. If Scott was going to make an appearance in the book, then I needed to include my other son-in-law as well. I needed to have Zac in uniform. After a quick look at his Facebook photos, I designed his quartet of trombones within a gazebo, since that was the setting of their wedding. Ta-da. The quilts are finished. The book is printed.  The book wins a national award! Oh happy day! 

[It's a long story about those last couple of quilts and why it took me over five years to make the needed total of 16 quilts. The short version? I overcame a lot of personal setbacks, side effects and obstacles generated by the return invasion of cancer in my body: Cancer the Sequel. With the help of therapists and an untold number of prayers, I was eventually strong enough to lift a light-weight iron and steam together the final cotton pieces which are now part of my legacy.]

Jump ahead in time again. As a result of my book with its patriotic images and now with men-in-uniform 
{{{and the intervention of a committee of angels}}} I am invited to EUROPE to perform and present to the children of our troops stationed abroad. Hubby makes all the travel arrangements and acts as chauffeur with European GPS through the five countries of my tour. I meet amazing individuals. Individuals sacrificing. Separated from their family at times and moving said family from pillar to post, all in the name of service. Always available. Always willing to give their all.  I am humbled to be a part of the "Military Month of the Child." Having a parent in the military is indeed a sacrifice. Participating in the festivities on behalf of the children makes my heart both proud and humbled. 

As a result of being in Europe, we are returning to Zurich to fly stateside again. While sitting at a charming candle lit dinner in a cafe at the top of a breath-taking switchback peak overlooking Florence Italy, we suddenly realize that there is literally a hole in our remaining self-guided tour and we have no reservation for the following night, the night before Easter. Oh my.

Completely out of left field we 'insert' a day trip to Verona as that is neatly between where we are at the time we realize we have no where to stay and where we need to end up for our return flight and there is room in the inn. Verona was NEVER, EVER on our itinerary. Since we were in Verona on Saturday, we ended up doing all of the tourist-type activities, which led us up into the TOP of their ancient colosseum. As I am happily taking pictures Allen sees that a spectacle is forming below us on the city streets. We can't hear the public speakers from across the square, which doesn't matter anyhow because neither of us can speak Italian. We can however clearly see US Army vehicles forming a parade below us. Everyone is in crisp, but OLD, US military garb and the stars and stripes are waving from every vehicle. Completely confused and clueless we depart the colosseum's many steps to figure out what is happening. 

It is at that point that we wind our way through the crowd and are led to an English speaking participant who as soon as she realizes that we are from America begins to hug us and sob, "You've come!" To capsulize this amazing 'coincidence' (certainly orchestrated by heaven) we realize that we have arrived in Verona at the very moment of their annual observation of our US soldiers liberation of their city during the World War. JUBILEE.

We.Are.Heros. We are hugged and held, because we are from America and it was America that saved Verona. She sobs her appreciation to me in broken English -- as though it was I that personally drove this very tank through the streets those decades earlier when she was a child. She sobs her gratitude for America's soldiers who came to her defense as a child. We are revered. We are the bodily representation of her freedom. America did that. America is being celebrated. American soldiers saved her. Saved her city. Saved her country. I had never ever experienced such pride in my homeland, in my people. I stood for all that is good in this world, because I was America to her. I stood as the mother who sent her sons to save her. History. World history. Revered in the face of the heinous. Good wins again.

Which brings us back to Memorial Day and deployment. I know in my heart that America-the-blessed must stand watch in this fragile world of ours. While I want to cover my eyes and just sing "Let there be PEACE on Earth"  I have lived to witness the unthinkable. I have also been personally hugged as the embodiment of the liberator. I know that we must still have uniforms that stand at the ready. I know that means that there must be mothers who say goodby to their children in uniform, spouses who sleep alone, children who are abruptly in one parent households. I know that in my head. 

Observing it up close and personal is a whole different level of truth. 

This is an extremely long ramble I realize. I appreciate that you've taken the time to read it. I am a daisy lover. I also hug my son-in-law goodbye today. Its an amazing quilt of experience this life I'm living. If you see a young mom with three children in tow at the grocery store looking exhausted and alone, realize those could be my loved ones, my WonderPeeps. Smile. Reach out. It takes a village. Actually, it takes a planet. We are all connected. This little planet of ours needs all of us to collectively cooperate and share this place we call home. Until we can figure out how to do that, we will have those willing to sacrifice their all toward that noble end. We have those in our midst who have lost their loved ones in just such sacrifice. 

Today we pause to reflect on what that means. I know I've shed some tears already before the sun ever came up as I 'thought' about writing this epistle. I appreciate your prayers of support on behalf of Scott. I also appreciate your expressions of support for Sarah and our peeps. Scott's mission this time is for just over two months. A bite-size chunk in the grand scheme of things. Small potatoes comparatively speaking. Just long enough for him to miss his birthday and Father's day and the fireworks of the Fourth and a season of swimming with his dear ones. The sacrifice is real. The emotions are many. The sincerity is genuine. 

***If you have a couple more minutes, watch as Carie-the-Kindergarten teacher, with her earlier nine years of service with the US Army, including one year of service in Iraq, leads her kinders in the singing and signing of my song. They are standing in front of the colossal quilt they created in response to my picture book.

-- Debbie -- 
I really don't intend for this article to be a "commercial" for my work. 
Honest. 
This is my real life today. 
Not a Hallmark movie.
But I do know that there are people searching for ways to instill a sense of patriotism, pride and respect in children they direct, teach and love. To that end, I will leave you the specific links to these projects so that you don't have to go searching. 

My Pinterest pinboard on ALL things patriotic is just one click away. 



My song is now available as a digital download format at our Early Education Emporium. 
It is also in a zipped file at TeachersPayTeachers.  

It will be used at a variety of end-of-the-year concerts and graduations across the country and around the world. 


***If you are reading this in 'real-time' you have the opportunity right this minute to register to win a set of all three of my books over at the blog, Kindergarten Lifestyle, in honor of my launching SKYPE visits to schools. 

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