With a Little Help From My Freinds

Wow.

It is said that the truest measure of ones' worth lies in the quality and quantity of his friends. I guess that makes me pretty special. I wouldn't have thought so if you'd asked me, but the night of October 20th changed my mind, and humbled me in a way I'd never been before.

As I mentioned earlier, my last week at home was filled with various and assorted events and plans. Thursday the 18th, we went to dinner with Spicy Grandma, and she mentioned that she had a "Special Guest" coming to dinner on Saturday, and that I needed to wear a shirt and tie to dinner, but left it at that. Ok.

Saturday morning, we decided to head out to Schnepf Farms to see their famous corn maze. As I cannot resist pushing buttons at times, I decided to see what kind of information I could get out of Jamie regarding our "Mystery Guest". She wouldn't budge. I thought I had it figured out just the same tho. I was almost certain that Shannon was the guest in question. She'd tried to come out a few weeks earlier, but couldn't find a decent plane fare. I thought she'd stumbled upon a cheap ticket and just decided to come out at the last minute. Normally I can read these types of things pretty well, but this time I wasn't even close.

The plan was for us to arrive at Spicy's (Jamie's Mom, Chris...Jaislyn calls her "Spicy Grandma") house at 6pm to pick her and Mystery Guest up to go to Houston's Steakhouse for my"Farewell Dinner". I was a bit suspicious of all the Fort Knox-like secrecy regarding this dinner, so I had my guard up and my feelers out. I did notice that someone down the street must have been having a party due to the number of cars, but didn't think anything of it otherwise. Jamie and Jaislyn ran into the house as soon as we pulled up, and I brought up the rear. I knew something was up when I walked in and saw the kitchen table set with a tablecloth and plasticware. A split second later, when I looked into the living room, I saw our "Mystery Guest"... or should I say, ALL of our "Mystery Guests".

I don't dare attempt to name everyone who was there for fear of leaving someone out, but there were dozens of friends and family members there, many of whom drove or flew in from out of town just to see me off. I was floored. I could not believe it. I am getting a bit misty eyed right now just remembering. All of those people went that far out of their way just to come see me (And Jamie, Jaislyn and Chris of course...)? Really? Like I said above, wow. I think I am going to be missed. I'll sure miss them.

I spent the remainder of the evening shaking hands, giving and getting hugs, explaining what we'd be doing in Iraq, and just visiting with everyone. It was the perfect sendoff, and I could not have asked for more. Thank you Jamie and Chris for arranging this incredible evening, and a big, sincere Thank You to everyone who took time out of their schedules to come make me feel so special. I will never forget that night or the kindness and love I felt from everyone.

Thank You.