My Thanksgiving Hero story. CPL Jimmy Shelton.

My favorite Thanksgiving memory with my son & hero Cpl Jimmy Shelton was celebrated in Sept of 2005. He had orders to deploy to Iraq on the 20th of Sept and knowing he would miss Thanksgiving & Christmas we decided to celebrate both with his buddies in Sept while I was there visiting.

I woke up early that morning (after a late night having a Toga party) stepped over sleeping soldiers and cleaned the kitchen so I could start baking. Jimmy had warned me that the oven was "jacked up" but I wasn't sure what that meant....until I turned it on to preheat it. Smoke came billowing out of it which set the smoke alarms off. Neither the smoke nor the loud piercing sound of the smoke alarm woke those soldiers...it wasn't until I opened the front & back door to let the smoke escape that the light filled the room and these zombies started stirring!

They were so happy that it we were having Thanksgiving & Christmas that day that they didn't growl too much! They understood I was trying to do a good thing. We had so much fun and laughed so hard that day we cried. We had a gift exchange that night around a fake Christmas tree (it was Sept).

I am so thankful I have that memory and that my son had that experience as he didn't make it back from Iraq. He was KIA 12/3/05.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to remember & to share with others. We love & miss him so mu