Honoring a Local Veteran {Celebration of Service}

 

This past weekend, I had the honor of meeting a local veteran as part of the “Celebration of Service” program through The Home Depot Foundation.

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It has been so amazing to be a part of this program!

I was able to fly to Detroit and work with the amazing people at Stiggy’s Dogs.

Then I was flown to Columbus, Ohio to help update a home for Veterans who are attending college there.

And now finally, I was able to honor a sweet local Veteran and his family.

The Home Depot sent me a bunch of Christmas goodies in the mail to take to this family.

We wrapped them up, and headed about 45 minutes away to deliver the gifts.

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I took Jonathan and Eli with me.  I wanted the whole family to go, but Cy had to take Adam and Luke to their basketball games.

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So we loaded the gifts in the car, drove through Wendys for a late lunch, and watched Ice Age on the dvd player on the way over there.  I loved having my boys with me. Smile

Here is the Veteran family that I had the privilege of meeting.

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And here are the other wonderful people that came to help out.

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Left to Right:  Todd Murdoch {Home Depot}, Me, Tamara Langley {Community Liasion Operation Homefront}, Harold Smith {Home Depot}, Jason Langley {Veteran and Tamara’s husband} Smile

 

 

I had so much fun talking to them and getting to know them while I was there.

 

As soon as the children saw the presents, they began opening them.  The Home Depot had supplied a corner Christmas tree, ornaments, a star, a wreath, and a tree skirt.

The children immediately began asking us to help put it all together, so we did. Smile

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I had never seen a corner Christmas tree before, have you?  It is really cool if you need to save space.

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We had to connect the lights and fluff out the branches.

 

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Then we put up the star…

 

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I laughed out loud when I asked their son if he wanted to “put the skirt on,” to which he immediately said, “NO!”

He had a look of terror on his face.

“Not a real skirt,” I said.  “A TREE skirt ON the tree!”  Smile

Then we all laughed some more when I pretended to “put the skirt on” me.

 

 

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Eli loved the door wreath, and so did I!  {Wish I had one of those for myself.}

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We watched as the children hung the ornaments…

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They wanted Eli to help, so he did…

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Jonathan brought his guitar and sang, Silent Night, as we continued decorating the tree.  It made it feel so Christmas-y.

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After we were finished decorating the tree, we hung out and talked a little more.  Eli sat on the couch for a while with his new friend.

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The tree looked beautiful all lit up and decorated.

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But nothing was more beautiful than seeing 11 strangers spend a couple of hours together, sharing stories, decorating a tree, enjoying the season, and honoring the service of our Veterans.

I am so grateful to have been a part of this “Celebration of Service” event.

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The Home Depot partnered with bloggers such as me for their Celebration of Service Blog Network. As part of this program, I received compensation for my time. They did not tell me what to purchase or what to say about any product mentioned in these posts. The Home Depot believes that consumers and bloggers are free to form their own opinions and share them in their own words. The Home Depot’s policies align with WOMMA Ethics Code, FTC guidelines and social media engagement recommendations.

 

12 Comments

  1. You are such an inspiration! I love that you are so willing to help others. I wish I was a blogger like you so I could experience the things you do. Honoring our Veterans is so important and I’m so thankful there are organizations that do so. They and their families sacrifice so much for our freedom.
    I love that you took two of your sons. That will be something they will always remember.
    I so love you and your blog. You bring such happiness to my day!
    Many blessings to you and your family.

  2. Love your heart Traci! You inspire me all the time to be better! And can I just say…my favorite part is that Jonathon had his guitar and was singing Silent Night?!?! So incredibly sweet!!

    1. So awesome Traci! What a great opportunity for you and your boys and I am sure that family felt so blessed!! Love that Jonathan had his guitar and you all could sing together, so great!!
      Thanks for sharing this with us!! Beautiful story, especially this time of year!!

      Blessings & Merry Christmas, Lisa

  3. this was particularly touching as the mother wife daughter niece sister and many greats grandaughter of veterans. thank you,

  4. What an inspiring beautiful thing you all did for this family! FYI you can make any tree a half tree and place it on the wall to save space, just don’t put the back half of the tree branches on. Push it against the wall, and there you have a half tree. My parents did this for many years with ours!

    DeDe@DesignedDecor

  5. Traci, thanks for sharing. My nephew is away this Christmas and will be missing his family this year. Our service men and women give up so much for our safety. I am so happy that you were able to touch one of their lives. God Bless you girl.

  6. Traci, As a veteran myself, I was so pleased to be invited by Home Depot to join all of you in helping another local veteran celebrate this Christmas season.

    Thanks for what you do.

    Harold

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