Not All the Wounded Have a Bullet Hole

I haven't touched on why Joe got his sick heart, maybe it's time.  

My husband was a Red Horse Engineer the latter part of his military career.  This means that his unit was "the first in"....They were the ones who built the runways, MASH units, tent cities, etc. for those that came to fight the good fight.  He was on a joint NATO mission in Bosnia, when he caught a virus.  There were no doctors for these guys (they came later), so when they were sick they laid in their cots until they got better - and then right back to work.  He did get his heart checked later and they knew that there was a problem. but it was just rolled under the carpet.  A few years after his retirement is when we found out that he had a bad case of cardiomyopathy (enlarged heart). Luckily the FDA had approved new medicine which was pretty effective with Heart Failure, and we got hooked up with a wonderful doctor at the VA who knew exactly what he needed.  The medicine kept CHF (Congestive Heart Failure) at bay and we were able to go on with our lives for quite awhile.  

12 great years passed where we were able to raise 4 of our children (Bobby is older and had already "left the nest"), and Joe was able to have his "second career" as a contractor, owning his own business. The blended family bit got a bit trying at times, but we muddled through knowing that eventually the children would be adults and it would be just the two of us.  Joe is the only "father figure" that my natural children knew and they all grew to love their "Daddy Joe" or "Papa Joe" very, very much.  I really could not have picked a better man than he to show them what a Dad was all about, even for Bobby.  We collected a lot more children along the way, by osmosis, Big Zach, Little Zach, Trina, Lindsey, Marisha, Brandon, Sarah, Candace, Jenell, Left Josh, Matt and more who love this man so very much.  They all know that they can count on him always.  

They are all adults now and we taught them the best way we knew how.  All we asked of them was for them to be responsible and follow the rules.  They have all had their stumbles along their path but we are proud of all of them and who they are becoming as they make there way through this world.

Do me a favor today, and thank a Veteran or a current member of the armed forces for their service.  

Thank you Joe.  Because of you and people like you our world is a safer place to be.  And darlin', you are my hero.