Just So Proud!

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness
                                                                                   ~Napoleon Hill


Where is the time going to?  It seems like we just returned from Virginia and I see it's been almost a week since I last wrote a blog posting.  Our house is officially on the market and we had to leave for a few showings.  Then we had Mother's Day and a few other appointments thrown in.   I'll share other happenings with everyone later, but before time flies too much further, I really want to share with you a few photos of our trip to Virginia and of our son's retirement...

His wife, Lisa, planned a great retirement party for him.  He even had some of his army buddies fly in from other parts of our great country.  These are a few of the awards and gifts he was given...

This is a photo that was actually taken prior to his retirement where he's assisting VP Biden in presenting a medal to another soldier.  The matting around this photo had lots of sayings and signatures from fellow WHCA members (White House Communications Agency)...

I was especially proud of him after reading this letter that he received, along with the Order of Mercury medal, shown below...

Even more surprising, I discovered that in addition to actually flying with Vice-President Biden on Air Force 2 and Marine 2 helicopter, our son actually worked in a wing of the White House when he wasn't traveling.  See, even mothers aren't told everything...

This is the cake that Lisa ordered.  It tasted as great as it looked...

Around the edges were all the posts where he's been in his 20 years of service...

One of the Marine military aides for the Vice-President, gave our son a select number of tickets to attend the Marine Barracks 1 performance in DC.  We had choice seating for this and felt very honored to attend.  We later found out that these tickets are hard to come by.  The Marine Barracks 1 was the first ever Marine barracks.  Stationed there are the members of the various Marine bands, as well as those who work in Arlington National Cemetery...

We listened to the Marine Drum and Bugle Corps play, as well as the President's own band...

To see the Marines perform with their rifles was amazing.  It was done in complete silence and was better than watching it on television or in the movie theatre...

At one point, Lisa had her video camera at the party and was asking some of his friends if they had any advice for our son.  I couldn't help but yell out "Now, get a job"!  If you looked at any of the awards and letters, you might have seen where he officially leaves the military on August 31, 2013.  All that means is he's finished working and can use the time from now until then to look for a job while receiving his full pay from the military.  Not bad!