The Big Question

Since my son set me up with this blog site, I have enjoyed writing my blogs - simple as they are. Even more than writing, I love reading other blogs - specifically, military blogs. At first, I just randomly went from one blog to another. Let me tell you, there is some prett strange stuff out there. Eventually, I found my way to some military blogs and then through those blogs, I found some more military blogs. I have a whole list of favorites that I check on each day. Some of these guys are beginning to come home from Iraq now. I am very happy for them - glad that they are safe, but I will miss them. They give a much more accurate picture of what is happening in Iraq than the mass media.

Last year I read "American Soldier" by Gen. Tommy Franks. I loved the book. Then I found the he was doing a book signing at the WalMart in Lawton. I figured that it would be so neat to meet him and get his autograph. Toby and Jesse went with me thinking they would do some shopping while I got my autograph. We got there about 30 minutes early, and there was already a line down the back of Walmart, down the side, and out to the garden area. I got in line at this point. The line went on to snake around the garden area and then out the gate and down the sidewalk. Once the line started moving, it moved fairly fast. It took about an hour for me to get face to face with Tommy Franks and his wife, Cathy. You would think that I had all of that time to plan what I wanted to say, but I didn't think to do that. When I finally got in front of him, I suddenly realized that all that I had wanted to say would sound stupid. I had read his book, I felt like I knew him personally, and I wanted to speak to him that way. But he did not know me from Adam. There were people there guarding Mr. Franks and moving the line quickly and Toby was waiting for me - too much pressure. I said something that I am sure Mr. Franks found odd, but I did manage to tell Cathy she was my hero too and got her autograph.

That is how I feel about the soldiers whose blogs I read. I feel I know them personally, but they don't know me. I would like to tell them how much I appreciate them, give them a hug...They would probably think I am some sort of dememted old lady stalking them. So I will just keep reading them, enjoying them, and praying for them. They will never know me, but I hope they feel the prayers.