Heather and her Hero.
This is Heather from http://devildogandlitigationlove.blogspot.com/ thank you for the nice comment! I've attached a picture of me wearing my bracelet on the night I found out I was getting published in our International Law Journal (I've also emailed it to your website):) My best friend flew in to stand in for Daniel as my date, and the Herobracelet was an awesome way to bring him with me when he couldn't be at a special event. (although I wear it all day every day 24/7 this just happened to be a special day).
My family and I really truly do love our hero bracelets.
Dan deployed in December to Afghanistan, his first deployment with the Marines. I don't remember how I first heard about Herobracelets but I told him before he left I would be getting one. He was really touched by it and we watched the video on your sight, in his room, together (me crying probably for the third time, and him giving me a long reassuring, knowing hug after) right before he left. I've promised not to take my bracelet off until he gets home, and as much as I love it I would love for him to have it even more, because I know what that will mean for us.
For christmas we decided to get everyone in our families (Moms, Dads, sisters, brothers) a Herobracelet as well. It's now spread to close friends, who love and think about him all the time, asking me to order them bracelets (I'm going to order more today!)
I see my sister and dad wearing their bracelet every time I go home and it touches me beyond words.
Especially because my dad is a vietnam veteran who has felt the hardships of deployment both personally and to those he loves. It connects him to Daniel and I think allows him to reflect on what was a difficult time for him - when people ask him about his bracelet.
My Dad and I have often talked about how my generation and his generation are/were so removed from the needs of those that served in the wars that afflicted our country. Because unlike WWI and WWII - the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts aren't a "country wide effort," no draft, no mobilization of factories for the war effort. That in my grandpas time everyone knew someone who had been afflicted by the war, or they themselves were likely directly involved. Today, it is easier for people who aren't immediate family members of servicemen and women to forget the scarifies begin made every day.
We both agree that Herobracelets are a beautiful way to help us all (myself and him included) "remember."
And my sister, who is super spunky and very fashionable - never takes her Herobracelet off. It's her quiet, beautiful way of showing her love, solidarity, and support for Daniel (for me as well) and all other deployed service members. She is a high school physical education and health teacher and she tells me that students ask her what her bracelet is for all of the time. She loves it because she gets a chance to talk to them about the war, the amazing sacrifices our service member make, and how important it is to support for the brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives deployed overseas - no matter your feelings on what is occurring abroad. Topics that are very important to her.
The last time I was home planning for Daniel and I's wedding (that will take place the March after he gets back), I was sitting across from her, eating lunch, in the midst of a busy day of bridesmaid errands, and saw her bracelet. Mid conversation I started to tear up... because I was reminded, that I wasn't the only one shouldering the burden of his absence. That every day she and other members of our families also look down at their Herobracelets, remember where is, and send their prayers for his safety.
Just the other night I was out with a bunch of my friends on our Mock Trial team and one of the coaches who I had first met that evening said to me, "If you don't mind me asking - what is the significance of your bracelet?" It was a great opportunity to tell him and others at the table about Dan - and to reconnect a little part of the people in our nation with what is going on on the other side of the sea.
We love our Herobracelets - they are a soft, quiet, physical reminder every day of where Dan and so many others are. Of what they are sacrificing. It makes me and my family appreciate our day to day lives more, the freedoms we are blessed with, it makes us pray harder, and allows us to share our sadness, hope, and tenacity for his deployment together. They are also a great way to remind Dan how much we love and are thinking of him, when he sneaks away for a rare moment and sees pictures on facebook peppered with bracelets bearing his name.
Thank you for making the idea of Herobracelets come to life Chris.
I know that the organization has touched so many through the donations made to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and that is such a beautiful thing.
I also know that the bracelets themselves have been an incredible personal gift to my family, and many many others, during one of the darkest, most difficult times of our lives.
------------
Daniel and I met our last year of college. He was a conservative history major, me a liberal political science and economics major. Although we had mutual friends they never thought to set us up because on the surface we appear to be as different as night and day. What they didn't realize that past those surface level things, there were many ideals and core values we shared, including a love for making a difference in the world through different mediums.
I went to his rugby games, he came to my non-profit events (even if they were at 7am and involved him handing out doughnuts to a bunch of screaming from joy elementary school girls!). We immediately fell in love with one another and experienced a respect that neither of us had ever imagined a partner could give. That love only grew deeper when I saw him commissioned into a Marine Corps Artillery Officer and he saw me accepted into Law School to pursue a career in international humanitarian law, even when we knew that these great accomplishments would mean years apart.
Through those two years we have experienced raising a dog long distance, getting through the challenges of the The Basic Officer School, a summer internship abroad working for the United Nations, grueling hours of law school classes and being a 2nd LT., the births of new lives, devastating losses of life, and now a deployment. These challenges have taught us to be stronger communicators, how to truly trust another individual, and what commitment really entails. It has also made use realize that we are soul mates, that we now not only love each other passionately but are best friends.
Dan deployed in December of 2010 to Afghanistan, during my second year of law school. It is his first deployment with the Marines. I don't remember how I first heard about Herobracelets but I told him before he left I would be getting one. He was really touched by it and we watched the video on your sight, in his room, together (me crying probably for the third time, and him giving me a long reassuring, knowing hug after) right before he left. I've promised not to take my bracelet off until he gets home, and as much as I love it I would love for him to have it even more, because I know what that will mean for us.
For christmas we decided to get everyone in our families (Moms, Dads, sisters, brothers) a Herobracelet as well. It's now spread to close friends, who love and think about him all the time, asking me to order them bracelets (I'm going to order more today!)
I see my sister and dad wearing their bracelet every time I go home and it touches me beyond words.
Especially because my dad is a vietnam veteran who has felt the hardships of deployment both personally and to those he loves. It connects him to Daniel and I think allows him to reflect on what was a difficult time for him - when people ask him about his bracelet.
My Dad and I have often talked about how my generation and his generation are/were so removed from the needs of those that served in the wars that afflicted our country. Because unlike WWI and WWII - the Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts aren't a "country wide effort," no draft, no mobilization of factories for the war effort. That in my grandpas time everyone knew someone who had been afflicted by the war, or they themselves were likely directly involved. Today, it is easier for people who aren't immediate family members of servicemen and women to forget the scarifies begin made every day.
We both agree that Herobracelets are a beautiful way to help us all (myself and him included) "remember."
And my sister, who is super spunky and very fashionable - never takes her Herobracelet off. It's her quiet, beautiful way of showing her love, solidarity, and support for Daniel (for me as well) and all other deployed service members. She is a high school physical education and health teacher and she tells me that students ask her what her bracelet is for all of the time. She loves it because she gets a chance to talk to them about the war, the amazing sacrifices our service member make, and how important it is to support for the brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands, and wives deployed overseas - no matter your feelings on what is occurring abroad. Topics that are very important to her.
The last time I was home planning for Daniel and I's wedding (that will take place the March after he gets back), I was sitting across from her, eating lunch, in the midst of a busy day of bridesmaid errands, and saw her bracelet. Mid conversation I started to tear up... because I was reminded, that I wasn't the only one shouldering the burden of his absence. That every day she and other members of our families also look down at their Herobracelets, remember where is, and send their prayers for his safety.
Just the other night I was out with a bunch of my friends on our Mock Trial team and one of the coaches who I had first met that evening said to me, "If you don't mind me asking - what is the significance of your bracelet?" It was a great opportunity to tell him and others at the table about Dan - and to reconnect a little part of the people in our nation with what is going on on the other side of the sea.
We love our Herobracelets - they are a soft, quiet, physical reminder every day of where Dan and so many others are. Of what they are sacrificing. It makes me and my family appreciate our day to day lives more, the freedoms we are blessed with, it makes us pray harder, and allows us to share our sadness, hope, and tenacity for his deployment together. They are also a great way to remind Dan how much we love and are thinking of him, when he sneaks away for a rare moment and sees pictures on facebook peppered with bracelets bearing his name.
Thank you for making the idea of Herobracelets come to life Chris.
I know that the organization has touched so many through the donations made to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and that is such a beautiful thing.
I also know that the bracelets themselves have been an incredible personal gift to my family, and many many others, during one of the darkest, most difficult times of our lives.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Heather Noel Ludwig
J.D. Candidate, 2011
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." ~B.F.K.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Heather Noel Ludwig
J.D. Candidate, 2011
Case Western Reserve University School of Law
"It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope." ~B.F