(Unexpected) Deployment Superstars

All of my friends and family have been so wonderful to me this deployment, and I am SO grateful to everyone for all of the support they've given me. On top of this, there has been another group of people I did not expect to hear from (and may not even regularly keep in touch with) who have totally surprised me with going the extra mile. It is as if people I just used to walk past and say hi to on the way to class have reached out to me to provide support. It truly has proven to me that people are inherently so supportive, and many times shyness or feeling that reaching out would be weird may stop them.

Many of these people found out about our situation by reading my blog, and so I wanted to thank them here. Again, this is not a shout out to everyone who has provided immense support, but just a thank you to those whose support was really unexpected - and who I was pleasantly surprised to hear from!

1) Kyle Eisenmann. I've mentioned this earlier, but Kyle called me by chance the very afternoon that Greg left, because he was driving home from work and wanted to say goodbye to Greg. Bad timing on his part, but it turned out to be great, because he decided that he would call me once a week to check up on me. This has given just the tiniest bit of structure to each week (which is CRUCIAL in a deployment), and has become a good link between Greg and his friends from high school.

2) Mary Yonkman. Mary was an acquaintance in college, and besides working with her on a charity fundraising event she started at UVA, I never really interacted with her. She just married a Navy grad, and stumbled upon my blog, and wrote me a sweet email this summer about how she was thinking of me. I thought it was so nice, and since then Mary has checked in periodically and even sent Rocky, Caroline, and myself a real care package (something that was sorely needed when I received it, too!). So thoughtful.

3) Zella Page. Zella was in my Distinguished Majors Program at UVA, and outside of class we really never saw each other. I loved everyone in that class, and we had seminars together for two years straight, but upon graduation there was sort of an unwritten "good luck in life" feeling, that so many close classes have at the end of school. When Zella found out (via Facebook, I believe) that I was pregnant, she wrote me an email saying that she wanted to make Caroline a baby blanket. It was so out of the blue and so sweet! The blanket arrived this winter and is beautiful - it's handmade (crocheted/knitted, or something along those lines) and gorgeous! It sits on our couch and Caroline loves to cuddle in it.

4) Brian Guest. Brian is Greg's friend from Navy. He is stationed in Hawaii, and was in Coronado for a few weeks to prepare for his deployment. He called me out of the blue two weeks ago and asked if he could drive to Palm Springs and meet me for lunch on a Sunday. I of course said yes, and we had a great time catching up. He even brought us leis and macadamia chocolates from Oahu!

5) The Holt Family. The Holts are my first cousins. Shannon also has a wonderful blog, and she has made a point of being so supportive of us! Her kids have also sent Greg so many packages of beautiful artwork, which he has hung in his tent and looks at every day. It's a unique fun thing, and has made Greg feel so close to his cousins. He wants to take Ward to a Blue Angels air show when he gets back!

6) Katherine Alford. My awesome cousin who sent me an email on Valentine's Day just to say that she loves reading my blog. Totally not necessary yet totally made my day.

7) Anna Gutierrez. Anna works in the childcare at Gold's Gym and is so wonderful. She has two kids and just LOVES babies. Caroline loves her, and Anna is truly the reason why I'm motivated to go to the gym every day! Whenever I return from a workout she is holding Caroline and talking to her, and Caroline is just in heaven. I am well aware that if Golds' childcare was not so good, I would not be going to the gym.

8) Chris Conanan. Chris is Greg's old roommate from TBS, who is now stationed at Camp Pendleton. He was deployed to Afghanistan from May-December, so he is four months ahead of where we are. I never hung out with him at TBS and he came to our wedding but obviously I was so busy I didn't get to visit with him, but he has kept a pulse on what's going on here in YV during the whole deployment! He has sent me emails of encouragement, wants us to come out and visit, and just constantly keeps me sane, as he was in the very place where Greg was only months ago. He gets it, and knows the system and how it works. So when he says "it gets easier after the halfway mark," I actually believe him, because he just went through it.

9) My Bible Study girls. I have been going to a Bible study every Wednesday night during deployments, and again, this has provided me with a weekly structure. There are some nights when it's hard to drag myself off the couch and go to base (the other three girls are all neighbors on base), but I am always so happy that I went. It's wonderful friendship and fellowship, and really helps keep things in perspective.

10) Christina Stavridis and Anne Craighill. Christina and Anne came to visit me this past weekend (more on that later, once I get the great pics we took from them), and they really didn't have to! I rarely keep in touch with them (unfortunately, because they're awesome) but we had such a good time! They are great sports and so laid back, and the weekend was both busy and relaxing.

11) Anna Brown and Caroline Batchelor. Just like CStav and Anne, Anna and Caroline B. came to visit me in Arizona. I can't believe that not one but two sets of friends have actually followed through and come to visit! I really hope I can do the same for all of them some day.

Thank you everyone - now go and perform a random act of kindness to a friend or acquaintance from the past, because I promise you it will mean SO much to them!