I (heart) my sailor/warrior!
Wednesday afternoon. Last night, TCB and I accompanied one of my team members from VLSCI to a Town Hall meeting at Camp Pendleton. This team member is pregnant and got married to her (Marine) husband about 10 days before he was deployed to Iraq for six months. She knows next to nothing about the Marines, has no contacts within the Corps, and is curious about the kind of support, etc. available to her. TCB, a sailor, works in the same department as the General who was the keynote speaker at the meeting and he's the one that passed along the information about the meeting to me so that I could give it to her.
We all met up at Carrows and carpooled, as she didn't know how to get to the meeting location, and TCB snagged her some pretzels and soda before we settled down to listen. She got to see exactly where her husband is, found out what his mission there is, and confirmed when he's scheduled to come home. She met the Command Master Chief (TCB's boss, the highest ranking enlisted Navy person on base) and Sergeant Major (highest ranking enlisted Marine person), both of whom are going to visit Iraq later this month and who are now going to personally check up on her husband. She made contact with several smart ladies whose husbands are serving with hers and who will make sure that she's taken into the fold of the Marine wives. I feel much relieved and confident that she'll get the support that she needs, which is wonderful.
Also wonderful was sitting there with TCB while he listened to the General and then answered our questions like, "Is that where her husband is?," and "What does that acronym mean?," and, "How do you keep all of these different teams straight - they all sound the same to me!" He was patient, solicitous, and friendly. And watching him interact with the other folks there reminded me again of why I care so much for him: he's just a genuinely kind man with a big heart.
p.s. I'm going to an eating disorder support group tonight. I'm just going to try it out and I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with it, but we shall see.
We all met up at Carrows and carpooled, as she didn't know how to get to the meeting location, and TCB snagged her some pretzels and soda before we settled down to listen. She got to see exactly where her husband is, found out what his mission there is, and confirmed when he's scheduled to come home. She met the Command Master Chief (TCB's boss, the highest ranking enlisted Navy person on base) and Sergeant Major (highest ranking enlisted Marine person), both of whom are going to visit Iraq later this month and who are now going to personally check up on her husband. She made contact with several smart ladies whose husbands are serving with hers and who will make sure that she's taken into the fold of the Marine wives. I feel much relieved and confident that she'll get the support that she needs, which is wonderful.
Also wonderful was sitting there with TCB while he listened to the General and then answered our questions like, "Is that where her husband is?," and "What does that acronym mean?," and, "How do you keep all of these different teams straight - they all sound the same to me!" He was patient, solicitous, and friendly. And watching him interact with the other folks there reminded me again of why I care so much for him: he's just a genuinely kind man with a big heart.
p.s. I'm going to an eating disorder support group tonight. I'm just going to try it out and I'm not sure that I'm comfortable with it, but we shall see.
Comments
Good luck with the other meeting.
I really hope the group went well. I have infinite faith in support groups - speaking from experience!
Good luck at your new meeting, and have a wonderful weekend!