The Lone Soldiers

We all do it...We all try to put our best feet forward on our blogs, but today I'm going to give you a glimpse into the craziness that was my kitchen on Saturday.

That's what it looks like when I'm baking three brownies pans, two chicken pot pies, breakfast quiche, and Carbonara {with spaghetti squash} for the first time. It was worth it, though, even if it took days to tackle those dishes. Our friend Joel was coming home from the same training that Will was recently subjected to, and as a single soldier with no family around it was up to our new 'Rucker family' to step up! Everyone deserves a Homecoming.

I'm most proud of the scrapbook we made him. You'd think we would put together a thoughtful montage of the past few months to show him we care, but that just wouldn't do. Instead, Will came up with the idea to go to his house while he was gone and party it up in 'his honor'. This involved doing anything fun we could think of and capturing it for the scrapbook. Moral of the story, we may have strange ways of 'house sitting' and showing you we love you, but you can't deny that we are creative in our methods and we really do care!

On a serious note, it breaks my heart when some soldiers are deployed and they don't get a SINGLE care package, when they come home and no one is there to show them that their sacrifice was worth it, or when they have to spend the holidays completely alone. It's everyone's responsibility to do what they can to make up for that, and every little bit helps: Invite them for holidays, send care packages, attend a homecoming, or just send a Christmas card. The secret is that it will make you feel just as good as they do when receiving. Promise.

Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.- Sun Tzu