Emilie Johnson a listener had some kind words about my reading of a letter from Walter Reed Hospital this holiday season. Since she asked for a copy, I thought I'd share it with all of you as well :-)
Emiliescall.mp3Here's a great bit from a letter forwarded to me about a visit by Madeline Z. Bordallo to Walter Reed Hospital. The original letter forwarded to me follows
MadeleineClaus.mp3From: Hedger, Stephen
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 12:02 PM
Subject: FW: Christmas at Walter Reed Army Hospital
Importance: High
Check this out! Notice especially the bottom of the article about Ms. Clause.
The contact is either Solara, below, or the head of HOH Foundation who wrote the article, Karen Theobold at ketheobald@aol.com or
Karen T. Conlin
Karen Theobald Conlin
Helping Our Heroes Foundation, President
703-621-0669
703-994-9364 cell
21010 Southbank St.
Suite 805
Potomac Falls, VA 20165
www.hohf.org
From: Solara Linehan [mailto:hohfliaison@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 5:23 PM
To: Hedger, Stephen
Subject: Fwd: Christmas at Walter Reed Army Hospital
Thank you very much for bringing Ms. Bordallo to the holiday party at Walter Reed. It was a pleasure to meet both of you. We very much appreciate Ms. Bordallo's willingness to serve as Mrs. Claus- she really saved the day! Please share this article with her.
Today we spent a wonderful day at WRAMC. I want to thank all of those that helped to make it special.
I hope that you enjoy our story of a wonderful day...
A Day Full of Angels and Heroes
Saturday, December 9th
WRAMC
By Karen Theobald Conlin
Much ado has been made this holiday season about the liberties being taken with tradition. The Salvation Army Santa's have been blocked from standing outside one of the nation's largest retailers, Christmas decorations were hung well before Thanksgiving, and television news broadcasts update the public on retail sales "compared to last season" as if consumers are competing in a spend- a- thon. We have gone from Black Friday to internet Monday and completely taken out the trip to the local shopping mall as part of our holiday ritual.
The American public cannot decide whether to embrace the satisfaction that comes with "making life easier" or to bristle when commercialism has taken over one of the most sacred times in American family life. While we are being given "more time to shop" and "easier ways to reach family and friends" we are no less stressed nor tired, but empty souls searching for the true meaning of Christmas.
Today my belief in all that is good in mankind was spontaneously ignited. Every month our foundation, the Helping Our Heroes Foundation, hosts a luncheon party for those wounded while serving in the military deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The party lasts a few hours and we get to meet wonderful young men and women who served their country and in doing so sacrificed their own well being to incredible detriment. Mothers, fathers, husbands and wives join them for days and often months while they recuperate at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Each and every month we hear their stories and cherish these heroic individuals who have such incredible strength when faced with adversity.
December's party is designated as our holiday or Christmas party and we invite the patients, their families and a multitude of volunteers. There are gifts to be given out, favorite holiday foods, music and hopefully a visit from Santa for all of the children of service members who must spend the holiday season within the confines of a hospital.
I was prepared for today. The program was set, the gifts purchased and donated, and the volunteers ready to serve the guests. I mentally readied myself to keep the program on schedule, organize as needed, and be on the run to handle any and all issues. Simply put, I was in "event mode". I thought that I had seen it all, and was prepared for anything. Anything that is, except the human spirit.
Friday morning a large box arrived on my doorstep at home. It was sent by a volunteer who had her child's classmates collect Christmas stockings for the troops. I knew that they were coming. I PLANNED on them coming. Christmas stockings… check… I didn't plan on opening the box to see a wonderful assortment of stockings, and hand written notes. Some of the stockings were beautiful and decorated with glamorous beads and ribbons. Some were the traditional red felt stockings that we all see in the store. The most beautiful ones though were the ones made and decorated by young students. These had words misspelled, and glitter smeared with glue and heartwarming touches that only hand made work can bring. And the notes… the notes welcomed home our troops and wished them well. They had pictures and names and were cut out of construction paper and were written in marker and crayon. They were made by students ALLOWED to wish our troops well. By schools and teachers that didn't believe it politically incorrect to foster passion in their students. These stockings and notes were made by our next generation of leaders who believed in those fighting the war on terrorism and cherishing those who willingly serve.
I went to the hospital today to deliver these items at our holiday party. I expected my day to be routine as we had been doing this for four years now. While we walked around the room and greeted the patients and the guests, I was stopped a number of times by volunteers who wanted me to hear what had happened to one of our military families this week. Each time the storyteller was aghast and I promised to find the family and sit down with them.
The wife of the soldier and I sat down and I asked her what had happened to cause such a fervor. It seems that while on an innocent trip to a local Toys R Us this week to shop for Christmas presents for their children, the injured soldier approached a store worker and asked for help. This patient is clearly wounded. He has a damaged eye and other bodily wounds. His hair cut and clothing identified him as a soldier. When he approached the store worker with his question, he was told, "I am not going to serve a baby killer… and you have no right to be killing in Iraq." The insults continued and broke this man down in the middle of the store and in front of his family.
The wife was distressed as she had been working for a while trying to give her husband the confidence to go out with his injury. In addition to the visible bodily injuries he also suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and possible Traumatic Brain Injury. This man needs support for his recovery, not brutal accusations from his fellow Americans.
In the midst of asking the wife what we could do to restore his faith in himself and the heroics of his service I was tapped on the shoulder by a member of the hospital Medical Family Assistance Center. "Ma'm, we have a large group of volunteer firefighters from Long Island, NY that have driven down here today and want to shake the hands of a hero and thank them. We cannot let them on the ward and we would appreciate it if you might have an idea of how to involve them today." And yes, behind this man stood 30+ volunteer firefighters from Nassau County, NY in uniform and determined to share their thanks with our men and women in uniform.
I asked the wife of the distraught patient to please go bring him from his room as we had something special for him that would demonstrate he was worthy and appreciated. I pulled the leader of the group of firefighters aside and told him the story about how this family had been humiliated and the depression that it had caused in the soldier. I asked the firefighters if they would line up in front of the stage at our party and thank all of our heroes for what they have done and walk the room and shake hands with all of them; first responder to American soldier.
Brandon, our patient, came back and we put chairs in front of the stage for he and his wife. We introduced the firefighters and let them tell the gathered crowd why they had traveled from NY to Washington DC on this cold winter day. And then, we all stood and clapped. We clapped for Brandon, and his wife, and the woman in the wheelchair, and the man with the cane, and the families beside them that had endured so much and are still proud to be called Americans.
We each thought how serendipitous for this group to show up unannounced on our doorstep just as we needed a vote of confidence and an "angel" to turn things around for this family. We welcomed 30 angels for their genuine desire to share their thanks with those that they felt were heroes.
We continued the party after our special visitors departed. We got back on track with the timing and the agenda and the tasks at hand. Gifts… for soldiers and children… were next on the list. I checked with volunteers as we all looked at our watches and realized that to our dismay Santa had not yet arrived at the party as scheduled. We started to brainstorm things that we could do to stretch out the time in case Santa was late… or worse.
The children were well fueled with the sugary treats that they had been given and were getting antsy. The patients were looking forward to their gift bags with anticipation. The volunteers, emcee and I were becoming further distraught. No one wanted to have to go on the stage and announce that Santa had not made it. These children and patients and families had waited all morning to see him, and truly needed the magic of Christmas to fill their lives for this special moment on this special day. For a few hours, they were able to be normal again. They were not patients but husbands and wives and mothers and fathers participating in a festive tradition that made them feel at home; when clearly they are not.
While we huddled in the staging room making our plans I noticed a lovely women enter the party dressed in a beautiful red two piece suit and wearing boots and a gracious smile on her face. I stepped forward and asked if she was lost or perhaps related to a patient. "No, I am the Congresswoman from Guam and I would love to spend some time with our troops if I may," she said in a kind and gentle voice. I smiled because an idea was brewing and I thought that just maybe, this was our second encounter with an angel today.
"Do you know who you look like," I asked her. "You look just like Mrs. Claus should." She smiled kindly and just radiated family, and warmth and goodness. "We are having a little situation," I told her. "We were expecting Santa to arrive and give out gifts to our patients and their children and he has not arrived. We hate to disappoint the children and are trying to come up with a back up plan."
The wonderful Congresswoman from Guam, Madeliene Bordallo, insisted that we should not disappoint the children and that yes, she would be willing to be Mrs. Claus for the afternoon. My idea was to have her introduced to the crowd as Mrs. Claus and to say that Santa was side tracked or having reindeer trouble. We would have elves pass out the gifts and Christmas would be saved.
Mrs. Claus, who must be a mother and grandmother, decided that she would do much more. She gracefully sat on a chair on the stage in front of everyone and one by one welcomed each child as they sat on her lap and told her "what they wanted for Christmas". I truly began to believe that we HAD been visited by the legendary wife of Jolly Ole' Saint Nick. Mrs. Claus smiled and listened and gave advice on being naughty and nice and let pictures be taken and on and on and on. The children were in heaven! They were on the knee of someone who radiated kindness and compassion and they felt it.
Volunteers and parents came up to the edge of the stage to watch the scene and admire and ooh and aah over how each child reacted. We laughed at the items on their lists and their appraisal as to whether they had been good or bad this year. One little boy followed Mrs. Claus around the party with, "but I haven't finished my list yet!"
When Mrs. Claus finished I asked my husband, Sean, the always drafted host and today's emcee, if Mrs. Claus needed to be "reintroduced to the patients," as the Congresswoman from Guam. Sean laughed and told me that he asked Rep. Bordallo about how they would handle this and if she would like a formal introduction later. "No, today it is just fine that I am Mrs. Claus," the lady in the red suit acknowledged.
My heart swelled when I met this woman and she single handedly saved the day for our young guests and their parents. You would believe that those in political office exist for the notoriety and ego and have a fundamental need to be recognized for each bit of good that they perform. Not today. Not this angel. Today, the Congresswoman from Guam was a mother and a grandmother and an American. And just for today, Mrs. Claus.
We finished the party amongst the thanks and well wishes of those whose day had been brightened. They were laden with gifts and stories and cheer. I finished the day revived in the human spirit and all that is good and wonderful about being an American. Today, this room was filled with love, and joy. It was rich with gifts and far richer with emotion. Sometimes we do have angels. And sometimes, we have Mrs. Claus.
Karen Theobald Conlin
Helping Our Heroes Foundation, President
703-621-0669
703-994-9364 cell
21010 Southbank St.
Suite 805
Potomac Falls, VA 20165
www.hohf.org
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Solara Linehan
Public Outreach Coordinator
Helping Our Heroes Foundation
www.hohf.org
202-441-2937
hohfliaison@gmail.com
