The real thanks is to the loving God who gave me three precious gifts - two sons, followed by 7 years of rest and then a daughter!
Thanks, guys, for your unflinching good cheer while taking off for the wild blue yonder with regularity - all those new schools where you were the 'new kid.'
Thanks for believing Mom when I assured you there would be new friends ahead, and new adventures!
It was you who made the most of South Dakota and 'The Hawk' - the drive to Fairbanks from there in the dead of winter, through Canada, around the end of the Rockies and over the Alaska Highway.
We muddled through the 50 below temps together, and watching for moose and bears when you went out to play instead of the snakes in Florida; you survived the Good Friday Earthquake with equanimity; shared with us both darkness most of the winter hours and around-the-clock sunlight all summer - the wonders of the Aurora Borealis, and camping that week above the Arctic Circle and then going on to Mt. McKinley, never complaining about the discomforts and chores of tent life.
You made each new place memorable, making the transitions with grace and No Whining!
You boys, that year in Myrtle Beach. SC when your Dad was in Southeast Asia and your sister in kindergarten, stepped up to the plate and excelled in school (where Mom was part of the staff and you were REALLY under pressure!); and then got real summer jobs to supplement the low military pay, just 13 and 14 years old.
(Thought we would never eat another cheeseburger from those leftover ones your understanding boss pressed upon us - even the dog turned up his nose by summer's end!...)))
Then it was on to Charleston and another school, followed by leaving service and returning to Florida for still others in civilian life.
You always came through, accepting the changes and made the most of it all.
After that you made it entirely on your own, making your way through college
and succeeding in all you did.
Most of all, you have huge hearts and know the secret of life - in followng God, you will never lose your way.
You serve Him and your families and your fellow Man, demonstrating the love He has given you.
Jennifer, last year just a week before Christmas when JoAnn received $1,700 for her Secret Santa Project and couldn't possibly shop for the last 37 kids - you and Bill stepped up (even with full-time work and three children) to buy 2-3 presents for EACH of those children; including 14 bicycles Bill assembled!
And volunteered to to do more next year!
Thank you, Lord, for these three precious gifts; the strength and wisdom to steer them through their childhoods; and the utter joys at this end of life, seeing them as always having been Your Children.