A PERFECT DAY

I think that it is important to report the good as well as the bad.  Many have no idea that besides being a Retired Military Police SSG, a licensed California Private Investigator, a registered Process Server and yes, even a licensed Lock Smith that a little more than five years ago, I formed a small but effective private foundation that gives back just a bit to the families of the men and women who so bravely serve our country.  Over the past five years, the North Pole Foundation has gathered literal truck loads of toys which are delivered to the Family Readiness Officers on Camp Pendleton to be given to the children of those who were deployed in harms way or were otherwise in need to "keep the dream alive".

So yes Virginia and all those other boys and girls, there is a Santa Claus and he never sees you and never watches you open the gifts that you receive for the holidays, but it would pain him and everyone that supports his cause if you did not get those small tokens of appreciation from your unnamed benefactors.  The North Pole Foundation has also sent thousands of DVD's to the men and women serving in Afghanistan and other parts unknown because attempting to use their laptops on the Internet to pass time could result in the enemy reverse engineering their locations through the satellites and thus targeting them and their brothers and sisters in arms. 

We are doing wonderful things for the children in shelters in Orange and Los Angeles Counties and our friends are making differences to those in need in Arizona as well. 

There is more, much more but that isn't the point today.  Today was a perfect day.  Several days ago I received a phone call from the 1st Marine Logistics Group Family Readiness Officer.  He asked if I would be able to meet him on Camp Pendleton this morning because the base was honoring those who volunteered over the past year.  As always, without a moment's hesitation, I informed Gloria that we had plans and needed to be out the door by 07:30 this morning to meet Mr. Bradford.  We arrived a bit early but in my defense, I was taught that five minutes early was ten minutes late and judging traffic in southern California is never exactly easy. 

Upon our arrival at the Pacific Views Event Center, I donned my coat and tie and waited patiently with Gloria until Mr. Bradford arrived.  He greeted us with a smile and a genuine embrace and then escorted us to our table, stage center and politely informed us that 1st MLG, Brigadier General Vincent A. Coglianese and his wife Mary would be seated with us as well as the 1st MLG Sergeant Major Thrasher and his wife.  There were light refreshments and when Eric returned with a beverage, I observed that he had a program which I had not seen.  I quickly went and found the young Family Readiness Officer who was passing them out and ask for one for myself and one for Gloria.  As I returned to my seat, I opened the program and realized that I was listed as a nominee for the Civilian Volunteer of the Year Award. 

No, I was not the selected recipient of the award and honestly I think that everyone else who was nominated deserved the award far more than I.  In true military fashion, I just herd the cats that make everything happen and although it was a huge honor to be nominated, I am thrilled to have not won the award.  It is however infinitely important to recognize the efforts of so many who volunteer with the North Pole Foundation and who donate items to be auctioned off and who give toys to be delivered or spend money at events that allow us to purchase the gifts that we give. 

This was a perfect day.  I was able to listen to Mary Coglianese talk with me about her amazing spirit.  She has had diabetes for a very long time and her sight is impaired greatly.  She shared with me as if she had known me for years not moments.  As we were ending our conversation and preparing to sit down for the ceremony, Mary made a comment to me about her outlook on life and simply stated she said "At least it isn't cancer." 

This amazing woman has refined the importance of her challenges to the mantra "At least it isn't cancer."  I know that that is her version of "Retreat Hell, we just got here." and I knew instantly that her spirit is unstoppable. 

As the ceremony concluded, the General and the Sergeant Major both addressed me as if they knew me forever.  They asked about my son the Marine who was the catalyst for all of this and they were truly concerned.  When I told the General that  my son had boarded a ship on Sunday, the General said oh yea and named the vessel and then said that he had gone down to see them off yesterday. 

The questions shocked me that they remembered so much about why The North Pole Foundation was started and they impressed upon me the gratitude of so many Marines, Sailor's their wives and children who have been touched by our willingness to give just a bit of ourselves and our time and money.  I have spoken hundreds of times about how our gifts impact those we never meet but it was not until today as I was shaking the General's hand and he quietly and unceremoniously slipped me his Challenge Coin, that I realized the real gift of giving.

We make a difference.  Our small tokens of gratitude and appreciation remind those who would walk through the fires of hell for us, people they have never met and probably will never meet, understand that there service and sacrifice is noted.  In turn, the small token of a Commander's Challenge Coin slipped into an empty palm during a handshake returned the message that what we do, what we give is noted and matters.  What a perfect day.