Another birthday came and went

Lynn | Honor and Remember | Tuesday, July 17th, 2012

Another birthday celebration came and went.  Rhys would have been 26 years old.  I have no idea how his face would have changed.  He is stuck at 20.  The day passed by like any other day except we went out to dinner at Chili’s.  Rhys liked to go there and we’ve continued the tradition for his birthday.

Understand that generally, Michael and I go through our days pretty normally, with occasional bouts of sadness thrown in.  But generally after 5 years, we think we’re doing okay.  Occasionally however, we get surprised.  That’s what happened to me this time.

We sat down, ordered our meal, and chatted.  When the meal came and we were going to pray, Michael asked me to say grace.  I started and all of a sudden I could barely finish.  I started to cry and even Michael asked me where that was all coming from.  “I don’t know,” I blubbered. (more…)

Mother’s Day 2012

Lynn | Thoughts & Reflections | Tuesday, May 15th, 2012

As Mother’s Day approached this year I realized that it was occurring on the exact 5 year anniversary of Rhys’ death in Iraq.  As Michael said Happy Mother’s Day the night before, I grumbled, “What is so happy about it?”

We ask the question and if we are truly seeking, God promptly answers us.

I got up on the morning of Mother’s Day to prepare some goodies for a small brunch gathering.  While in the kitchen, Michael came down with a printed sheet of paper flapping in his hand.  “Look at this,” he said with that knowing bit of twinkle in his eyes.  The paper held a printed message of an e-mail he had received.   The message was one of greetings and request.  The greeting was from one of Rhys’ teammates from the deployment in Iraq.  The request was to send a very Happy Mother’s Day to me.  The note went on to say what a pleasure it was to have known Rhys.

That note was the beginning of what I think was the best Mother’s Day ever or at least since Rhys was killed. (more…)

IF I HAD ONE MORE CHRISTMAS

Lynn | Thoughts & Reflections | Friday, December 23rd, 2011

Today on the radio I heard a question. If there was a person with whom you could spend one more Christmas, who would it be? For me, and I’m sure for Michael as well, it would be with our son Rhys.

What would we do? How would it be? (more…)

NOT ABOUT ME

Lynn | Thoughts & Reflections | Tuesday, October 25th, 2011

I had an epiphany the other day. It happened I think when I was speaking with some other Gold Star Families. I suddenly realized that it’s not about me! You may chuckle to yourself when I say that because we all would like to think everything that happens is about us. Galatians 6:3 says “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.”

But what I realized is that the loss of our hero makes us uniquely qualified to reach out to others who are hurting. All we need is a servant’s heart. We should be “bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.” (Ephesians 6:6-8). We each have a story to share that connects us with others who are fearful or sorrowful. We can truly say to someone, “I understand the personal pain, I’ve been there.” But we can also say that we’ve made it to the other side of the valley. We can make ourselves available to share, to hold, to hug, or to sit in silence. We get it.

I challenge all of those who are in this position not to forget your hero, not to minimize the sadness, but to consider that so many others can be served. So many people are lost and struggling. You were made for a time such as this. You can make a difference.

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