Doc's Wife & Doc's Mom

A week ago, I flew to North Carolina to spend some time with Dave's wife, Kelly. Words can in no way convey how blessed and honored I feel to be able to call this wonderful young woman my daughter (OK, technically daughter-in-law)!

We spent Sunday with my cousins Laddie & Edna Munger in Cary, NC. They welcomed us with love, and we had a great visit. The photo to the right was taken in their beautiful back yard.

While we were in Cary, Dave called twice! Both times, reception went bad and we lost connection after just a few minutes, but I did get a chance to talk with him a bit. It was difficult for several reasons: the reception is very poor and unstable; there is a delay of several seconds in the transmission, so you tend to either talk over each other or have long pauses; and I was so excited and nervous that I forgot all the questions I wanted to ask, and forgot that the best thing was to just listen. But it was still a huge blessing to be able to hear my son's voice! Dave was able to call one more time when we were in Charleston, but all Kelly got was "Hi, it's me" and the line went dead.

Dave loves and appreciates the care packages he receives, and asked for a few specific things. His group is being housed in an old school building, and they were able to scrounge some lumber and build themselves some bunk beds. There's very little head space between bunks, but at least they're up off the ground. Dave asked us to send a foam pad to sleep on and the biggest battery-powered fan we could find. We also found out what specific kinds of underwear we can send.

There's no word on how things are going for Dave's unit. He doesn't like to talk about it on the phone, but needs to hear familiar voices.

Monday morning, Kelly and I headed for "home" in Jacksonville and went shopping for Dave at Extreme Outfitters and Walmart. We filled two boxes with a 10" fan, a self-inflating air mattress, a couple of sheets (olive drab, of course), a battery-powered hair trimmer, some underwear, snacks, and lots of batteries.

(Here's a care package idea, folks: The fan takes 8 D-cells, and will only run for a couple days on each set of batteries.)

Tuesday morning early, we headed for Charleston, South Carolina, for a "girls-only road trip." Along the way, we stopped to mail our care packages.

Once in Charleston, we went to the Visitor's Center, then took a carriage tour of the historic downtown area, followed by a trip to the old City Market, a great seafood dinner, and a 2-hour leisurely stroll around some of the old homes and the waterfront. It was beautiful, and the weather was mild.



Wednesday, we took a guided walking tour that included tours of two old mansions, then after a late lunch we drove up the river to tour a plantation with fabulous gardens. Kelly figured up that we walked for seven & a half hours that day!

While in Charleston, Kelly and I coordinated our outfits, wearing shirts we had bought for each other. On Tuesday we were "Proud Mom of a Navy Corpsman" and "Head Over Heals for my Corpsman." On Wednesday, our shirts said, "Doc's Mom" and "Doc's Wife" with Dave's picture. Many people stopped us to ask about our Corpsman, and the universal response was, "Thank you both for your sacrifice, and please thank him for his service to our country." It's wonderful to feel the appreciation and understanding.

It's good to be home again, but it was hard to leave Kelly. She is amazingly brave and strong, and she's on a mission to "keep the home fires burning." She makes sure Dave knows that she and their home are waiting for him when he returns. As you pray for Dave's strength and safe return home, please remember Kelly, too.

P.S. Click on the picture above to read the back of her WAY cool sweatshirt!

Calls to Kelly

Dave was able to call Kelly both Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon. A satellite phone has been installed at their camp, but the line to use that phone is always very long, and Dave is really busy. In fact, he'd had no sleep in between the two calls.

There's no real news to report, except that Dave is OK and doesn't want us to send any more clothes. Regulations about what they can wear ( including underwear) are really strict. Much of what he has received in care packages either does not fall within guidelines or is too tight.

Dave is longing for home, for sleep, for loved ones, for healthy food, and for being able to cook again. It's a huge boost to his spirits to know that Kelly is in North Carolina making a home for them, and will be there when he returns. Bless you, Kelly!

For those of you sending occasional care packages, canned fruit would be a great addition.

The best thing we can do for Dave, in addition to constant prayer, is to write letters telling of day-to-day things. Our ordinary activities are what he'd like to hear about, even if they seem boring to us. If you don't like to write letters, ask me about Motomail. It's fast & easy, almost like email!