Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to all the heroes out there including my amazing husband, Derek! How blessed we are to have such brave men and women willing to go wherever to protect all of us!

He served with the best of the best and not a day goes by that I am not incredibly thankful for he made it back home to me and our little family.

This is a picture of Derek and his unit while they were in Iraq. Can you find Derek? He is the hunky one (with helmet hair). LOL!

I have to admit the 15 months he was gone was probably the most difficult thing we have ever been through in our entire married life. I wish I could have been more graceful during that time, but lack of sleep with a new baby, decisions about care for Evan's autism that needed to be made and the constant worry of Derek's safety honestly about did me in. I am proud of how brave he was through it all, even when it came to his crazy wife (seriously). Derek is one amazing person...he is so sweet, thoughtful, nice, charming and also tough, deliberate, smart, and aggressive when he needs to be (like war for instance). I really think he is as close to perfect as you can get this side of heaven. I am one lucky girl.

Happy Veteran's Day, Derek! Love you SO much!


Just several more pictures during his time in Iraq:

My pilot and his aircraft - UH60 Blackhawk (medevac)

One of his patients. This is an Iraqi father and his daughter. She lost her leg in an explosion. Most patients they would not or could not take pictures of. Derek saw some terrible things. =( His mission was a good one though. He helped A LOT of people get to medical treatment.

His aircraft in an amazing sunset

7 comments:

Faith said...

I am so thankful for the sacrifice that your family, and countless others, have made for our freedom. THANK YOU!!!

Kelley said...

Thanks Derek and the many other men and women who serve this country! I appreciate you and honor what you do to keep us safe!

Marci @All Things Wonderful said...

Thank you for sharing this post . And, Thank you to You and Derek for serving this country to keep us safe and free. May we not forget the spouses who provide love and support to our soldiers.

Tonda said...

Thanks to Derek! Did you know he called me @ HH from Iraq just to say thanks for taking care of Evan & you while he was gone - he was thanking us and I was thinking the whole time he was the one sacrificing so much for us!

And I have to say I totally disagree with you on one thing - your assessment of yourself during that time. You were amazing, I can't believe the grace and strength you carried yourself with each day. Derek is most definitely a hero, but so are you in so many ways!!!!

So, thank you to Derek and you and E & EG - you are all heros to me!

Betsy said...

I am so thankful for all the men and women like Derek. What a great post and a wonderful day to pay tribute to all those who have sacrificed so much for us!

Anonymous said...

I have been meaning to comment on your blog forever, girl. And this just struck me as the perfect time because ... well, let me echo Tonda when she says how impressive and graceful you were during Derek's deployment. I met you during that time. And I was always so impressed with your beauty, your charm, your patience with your children. Nobody would have been able to tell how much stress you were dealing with. You were jsut a shining example of a strong woman and a devoted mother. And you still are!

Thanks for being such a positive example and a good friend!

Leah

Lauren said...

The photo of the Iraqi girl absolutely made me cry.

He is an amazing man!!