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| Darling husband, Rob |
I didn't invite people until the end of last week in order to try to keep leaks down to a minimum. I was sweating bullets at the Chamber coffee yesterday morning because everyone there was invited and I was sure there'd be a stumbled hint to Rob. On that note, I'd like to thank all those that came! Rob really appreciated it. As a matter of fact, I think he was a little speechless there for a while last night. So many folks stopped in to wish him well, even his racquetball partner, who rarely steps foot in a bar due to the smoke.
Mostly, I concentrated on his Navy service for the party. I hired Aimee Shreve to make a beautiful cake with his Navy Chief's arm patch insignia on it. Thanks, Aimee, it was as delicious as it was gorgeous! We pulled off the meetings about the cake for over a month because her mom, Madonna, used to be my next door neighbor and when Rob came home in the middle of us discussing it, we pretended Madonna and Ashlee (Aimee's sister) were just stopping by to meet Thistle. I never had any actual contact with Aimee during the process just to be on the safe side.
I also dug around in the nasty basement and found boxes of Rob's old Navy stuff... his medals, pictures of his ships, pins, awards, etc., and redid the shadowbox his Unit had presented him with in 1993 when he left the Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit in Baltimore. They had only put a couple of things in there and Rob had been rather dissappointed about its appearance and kept it on his dresser upstairs. Now it has a picture of him when he first joined in 1970 as well as something from most of his ships, his sharpshooter and other medals, his Honorable discharge pin and a bunch of other important milestones. It is now going to be prominently displayed in our library, which is the room you enter when coming into our home. I want everyone who enters my house to know they are at the home of a veteran.
I also found Rob's original Navy peacoat and hung that at the party, along with his Chief's hat. The best part, though, was actually the cheapest to get. I found a website that sells little flashing lights in any color combination you want and ordered red and blue flashing pins. Everyone at the party got one or two and after putting them on, the whole Lodge was ablaze with blinking patriotism! I don't think the pictures capture it well but we all thought it was awesome. I had asked the guests to please wear something patriotic to the party and they did not disappoint me! Again, people of Buffalo, you rock! Unfortunately, our regular computer is in for repair so I can't put up pictures but will do so as soon as I can.
One of Rob's closest friends, Ray, surprised him with an 1858 Remington Black Powder .44 Navy pistol as a gift. It shoots real bullets and it has a super long barrel. It's an Italian replica that he got through Cabela's. Wasn't that awesome? I think Rob's ready to brave the icy winds just to go check that sucker out at the firing range outside town as soon as possible.
After the party, Rob told me that it really meant a lot that I put such emphasis on his military service. Coming from a family of military service myself, I know the sacrifices and I think we should thank every veteran we see on a daily basis. In my family, the only people, women or men, who have not served, are those of us with bad eyes and we all tried to get in. I myself almost made it into the Coast Guard but was rejected because of my 20/400 vision. My mom was ROTC Queen of Alabama in the 50's, all of my aunts and uncles served in the Army & Navy and my father was in the Air Force. We take our lives here pretty much for granted but if it weren't for men and women serving in our armed forces, our lives might be very different.
Any time Rob gets into a political argument with an uber liberal about what's going on in our country, he tells them that he has fought for their right to say what they want in this country without fear of having their tongue cut out for voicing their opinion. I wonder how many Americans actually think about that? We live in one of the few countries in the world where you can voice an opinion against the goverment without fear of bodily harm or prison for your views. That's freedom and that's thanks to the men and women who have laid down their lives for the US. I have a friend in Serbia that I talk with frequently through e-mail who does not have that privilege. As a matter of fact, she has few rights at all. It is only by the grace of God that we were born Americans and I for one, do not take that grace lightly.
Rob is upstairs snoring off his multiple encounters with Mr. Glenlivet and Mr. Coors last night, dreaming of his adventures from the Navy, no doubt. Thistle got to sleep with her cone of idiocy off for the first time since her surgery and I'm sitting here in front of a roaring woodstove, expressing my views to the world without fear of reprisal. Life just doesn't get much better! Sure, I have surgery coming up Monday but that's a minor inconvenience compared to what's happening in some households in other parts of the world.
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| Rob and Thistle |
It was a lot of work to pull off Rob's surprise party but it was nothing compared to the work he did for you and me behind the scenes to keep us safe for 23 years......
Happy Birthday, my darling and thank you for your service to our nation!
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