We love you Mari333

[lostnfound]

because you've got guts and we honor you for carrying the burden..
Hopes & prayers for your stepson's safe return.

[Mari333]

1. I love you too

and I dont have guts some days. Today I laid in bed and cried all day, then got up and watched my husband cry while he gathered up Michaels stuff to send to him. Some days I have guts, some days I dont. some days I want to move out of the country, some days I dont, some days I sit in the woods and pray, some days I wash floors, some days I dont eat, some days I do. There wont be an Easter this year. Not just me, but for many people. we are all going thru this shit together.
(((I love you too)))
now you made me cry, because sometimes we feel so alone out here in the middle of nowhere and have no one but DU to make us feel sane.

[MissMarple]

3. I have no words.

:hug:

[wryter2000]

9. {{{{Mari}}}}

Here's to the day when all of this is a bunch of horrible memories and good people are running our country again.

:cry:

[liberalhistorian]

24. And Mari's stepson is back

safe from Iraq, as well as all the other soldiers currently being used as cannon fodder for Shrub's political ambitions and imperialistic agenda.

[spooky3]

11. Mari333, my thoughts are with you. Please, please take as good

care of yourself as you can to keep your strength up.

[Frances]

2. I've been thinking of you all day, Mari

I am sending you my best wishes

[Rowdyboy]

4. Mari, you and your husband are in our thoughts and prayers

constantly. You make this horrible war real to me in a way no one else can. God bless...Steve

[annagull]

5. Prayers and best hopes for your stepson, Mari333

We are thinking of your family, and I am so blown away by all the work you have done to get our kids home. Bless you! :grouphug:

[VolcanoJen]

6. I was awake until 7:00 this morning worrying about your stepson, Mari.

And worrying about you, and your husband, and the other, countless families, worldwide, who are doubtless experiencing sleepless nights over the last week.

:-(

[wellstone_democrat]

7. All of you are in our thoughts

I think of Michael and all who love and wait for him often and my family now asks for an update every evening. Thanks for trusting us with a very little part of the burden. I hope that we on DU do make some of the days a bit easier.

[Earth_First]

8. Best wishes to your son and your family...

Keep your chin up, Mari.

[Mari333]

(((DU)))

you know, every one of us has shit to go thru thanks to this stinking admin..some of us at DU have lost jobs, many of us have suffered disability and lost pay and medicare, some of us have lost health insurance and some of us had our loved ones dragged into that hellhole in Iraq..I salute every person on DU for being there for each other..all of us, having hard f*cking times, because of that monster and his friends inhabbitting the White House for the last 3 1/2 years.
The DU boards are the reason I get through it..in GOP land , here in this small town, we are pariahs now. Not one neighbour, not one old friend stuck around thru all this. They all left. I was too outspoken for them. Their loss. Only the people at DU stuck by us .
I even had one woman in town tell me not to cry in the store, ( I was) , and that I should get a counselor. I told her to shove it.
They just dont get it.
everyone on here needs to be told they are loved imho, because everyone at DU is a hero , and everyone at DU has suffered in one way or another in their own lives due to this admin.
I salute my fellow DUers for surviving this nightmare in America thus far, and for fighting for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and the truth.

[dbt]

10. All respect to you, Mari333!

It takes a boatload of courage to speak the way you do. Your stepson is in my heathen prayers. May he be some safe and soon!

:loveya:
dbt

[underpants]

12. Yes.............Much

Stay strong.

[Taylor Mason Powell]

13. Hang in there Mari!

You and your family are in the thoughts and prayers of a lot of us here. Your powerful and moving posts really drive home the human tragedy that is this war.

EDIT: Although to my mind it's perfectly okay to cry in the grocery store, there's nothing wrong with counseling. If it's an option for you, I think anything that helps you through these terrible times should be considered.

[Mari333]

16. well I agree but Id have to travel 30 miles to see a counselor

and they cost about 100 dollars and hour..so thats not gonna happen..I saw a grief counselor for 10 years after my first husband was killed, so I know all about grief now and how to cope. go slow. no stress. small things, focus. go to the woods. pray to something (I pray to the people who crossed over and the pictures from the Hubble telescope of the Universe I think about in my mind), eat a little. drink Valerian Root tea all day. call my other kids when I need to (they live in Hawaii and Seattle), write in a journal all my feelings, take the puppy for a walk and watch him get all excited about seeing his first rabbit (he barked a lot). hug my husband. sleep when I can, take a lot of naps, dont drink hard liquor, have 3 beers at night, take Melatonin for sleep, watch the willow trees swaying in the wind, see if the mallard ducks are on the pond, listen for the spring peepers, and I saw an owl fly into the woods today.
maybe those are all good things to do all the time, not just as we grieve, but maybe Im learning, thats a good way to live all the time.

[Lisa]

19. I'll think of you when I feed the mallards up here!

A flock of them make the rounds of our neighborhood, quacking outside the door until we throw them corn to keep them quiet ...


Love to you and your family!

[lostnfound]

17. However, the woman in the store (who said that) REALLY needs it more

Is there a 'zombie' virus afflicting people? How can anyone come out and say that? How cold, rude, inhuman.

[Ladyhawk]

22. People just don't care about each other.

I don't know if we ever did, really.

[laruemtt]

14. we are here for you mari

you have been in my thoughts and prayers a lot this past week :grouphug:

[calimary]

15. Yes we do! And like you, WE WON'T GIVE UP, EITHER!

Please note, here, The World's Greatest Lists of Media Contacts - not one but TWO of 'em - in the following thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1380003

[spanone]

18. All you need is love.

[northofdenali]

20. Mari, you and your family, especially Michael,

are in my thoughts. If it's not offensive to you, I'd like to have his name remembered at Mass tomorrow along with the many others requested by parishioners.

My very best to you, sweet lady, :hugs:

[mhr]

21. Best Wishes Mari, For All Of Your Family!

eom

[LynzM]

23. Hugs and prayers for you

You probably don't know me, but I read your posts and they make me sad and angry that anyone should have to go through this, and motivated to work harder to change things! :hug: from Indiana...

[Mari333]

26. I was born in Indiana. hello Indiana.

Im embarassed by the thread. everyone on here is going thru shit in their lives due to Bush admin. everyone at DU deserves a major hug for it.
(((DU))) all patriots, all heroes.

[Florida_Geek]

25. Loves

cann't email this but

[Mari333]

27. y all are angels in peoples bodies

www.mfso.org called me. They are taking all the families letters to DC, with the press, to the white house. and getting press coverage while marching from the Vietnam Vets memorial..they will submit thousands of letters to the white house, and we will all fast on Feb 14. Then we intend to do a hunger strike to being the troops home. Here is my letter:

My name is Mrs XXXX.. My stepson is now in the most horrific and
> > dangerous area of Baghdad.We wont see him for a year or more if this
> > occupation your administration created continues.
> > What do you think our Easter was like, Mr Bush? I doubt that you cared,
at
> > your "ranch". You were too busy doing photo ops for the press,
> campaigning
> > as per usual while we families sit at home and wonder if our loved one
is
> > coming back, wonder if he will survive this fraudulent war, wondering
if
> we
> > will get the phone call in the middle of the night, or have a car drive
> into
> > our driveway and tell us he has died. We had no Easter this year. We
will
> > have no Thanksgiving, and no Christmas.
> > I will not vote for you, Mr Bush. I will not vote for someone who cares
so
> > little about the young men and women who serve in our military. I can
see
> > right through your photo ops, I can see right through the deceit and
> > corporate trickery, the machinations of your PR firm, all the wealth and
> > power in the world cannot disguise truth.
> > Our anger as parents is manifest, our anger that we may lose our loved
one
> > in this fraudulent war is beyond anything you can possibly concieve of
in
> > your world.
> > Your world is a world of lies, a world where corporate lies are the
norm,
> > where soldiers are not actually human beings to you, they are
meaningless.
> > Our child is a real person. Hes a gentle young man with a heart, a young
> man
> > who climbs trees and plays with dogs, a young man who wanted to be a
> police
> > officer some day and now he is fighting for his very life. He is 21
years
> > old, and yesterday, he was playing football and wondering if he would
ever
> > meet a nice girl, settle down, and get married.
> > Now he may never have that chance, now, he may never have a chance to
make
> > us grandparents, or see his brothers again, we may never hold him in our
> > arms again, he wont be able to spend Christmas with us, or Thanksgiving,
> > just as he could not spend Easter with us, because of YOUR war, because
of
> > YOUR administration's lies about why we went to this war.
> > He is a child, just as many of the soldiers there are, and thousands of
> > parents will now have to ensuffer lifelong horror at what your
> > administration has done to us. Lifelong, they will want their children
> > nightly, cry for them, wonder what it would have been like if they could
> > have stayed alive, if they could have followed their dreams, every night
> and
> > day of these parents lives will be a nightmare as they suddenly realize
> that
> > their children died for nothing.
> > As my husband and I wait, every day, every night, praying that our child
> > will return, praying that we wont lose him, praying that he will be
sane,
> we
> > wonder how in Gods name you and those in your administration can
possibly
> > sleep, and what kind of people you all are to continue to allow this to
> > occur, and allow our children to die and suffer for nothing.
> > God help all of you, as the anger and horror of what you have done comes
> to
> > haunt you , if you ever obtain an iota of a conscience.
> > Our children must be brought home, now. Every young man and woman over
> there
> > must be brought home to the United States, and leave Iraq to the Iraqis.
> > This is their country, not ours, and they do not want us there.
> > Bring the troops home, right now, and perhaps some people in the US
might
> > allow themselves a modicum of forgiveness to you for what your
> > administration has done to us.
> > I will attempt, in my heart, at some point in my life, to forgive your
> > administration, if I can. Not now, not while you and yours continue to
> > arrogantly abuse the young men and women of our armed services. May God
> > forgive you, because right now, I cannot.
> > Bring the Troops Home Now.
> > Mrs XXXXX
> >
> > Michigan

[lostnfound]

31. Good luck. A hunger strike will be a powerful act against W's war nt

[lostnfound]

32. But do you mean April 14? nt

[goclark]

28. Blessings and Prayers

My prayers are with you and the family!

[harrison]

29. We are with you in down here in Mississippi,

another GOP stronghold. However, even here, support for Bush's war is beginning to wane. I have been reading your posts the past couple of weeks, and all I can tell you is that I will say a prayer for your, your husband, Michael and the rest of our guys over there.

[Stephanie]

30. We love you Mari!!

Be as strong as your stepson is.

We shall overcome!