Dear Treasured Son,
There are a billion thoughts swirling in my head right now. How exactly to put into words what you mean to me. How exactly to articulate how proud we are of you.
Twenty-four and a half years ago when you were handed to us, you were the fulfillment of my {almost} lifelong dream. For at least 20 years I had dreamed of an Asian son….and there you were, all mine! Handsome beyond words. Easy going. Smiley. A laugh that was completely contagious.
I was in heaven.
The little boy who I had pictured for all those years was now in my arms – forever.
Daddy was beside himself with joy.
Abigail was smitten.
She insisted on sleeping on the floor beside your crib – after all – you just might be scared or something and need her. She would hold your hand through the crib to go to sleep.
Reading was your favorite thing to do. We read and read and read and read. And once you learned to read there was no stopping you. You loved to go to the library and get the same books. Sharks became your expertise {until I rented Jaws for a mom and son night and scarred you for life. Who knew it was one thing for a 7 year old to read about them, but watching the movie was a whole different cup of tea??!}
When you were about this big {below} you told me that someday you wanted to go into the milit*ry as your way of saying Thank You to the United States for letting you come home to us. {I personally thought a letter to Pennsylvania Avenue would do.}
You decided you wanted to take flight lessons. So at just 15 years old we enrolled you in Private Pilot Lessons and at just 15 years old – you passed the written part of your Private Pilot License – on the first try! The instructors were dumbfounded! We were overjoyed with you! {They say it takes most adults more than one try to pass.}
But passing that test only showed you that you didn’t really want to be an Air F*rce Pilot.
You still wanted milit*ry, but something else.
And I’ll be honest precious son….adjusting to the thought of you enlisting was a hard pill to swallow. We are flag-waving Americans, proud of our country and thankful {always} for our milit*ry, but the thought of my little boy turned man giving his life for our country, well frankly, it’s just impossible to put into words.
You, my son, are the kid who would come in and lay at the end of our bed {every night} and talk to Daddy and I. We would talk serious. We would laugh our heads off. You are still the funniest person I have ever met.
And as you grew, the discussions got more serious. You really, really wanted to enlist. On September 11th, 2001, you said that if they would take you and we would let you go, you would go. A true patriot through and through.
As the days passed you talked more with us. And we prayed. And you read about the Special F*rces. And we prayed. And you prayed. And you studied about the Special F*rces.. And we prayed. And we fasted. And one day you came home and said, “I did it. I enlisted.”
Coming from a completely non-milit*ry background, it has been a growing stretch for daddy and I. We fully supported you, but boy have we cried {and cried and cried and cried}!! And boy-oh-boy, how many times have we secretly longed to turn back the clocks just to have you home still??
Someone said that with each depl*yment it gets easier.
They were soooo lying!
Not.A.Chance.
It gets harder.
After your second depl*yment you called Daddy and said, “Please tell mom, in two weeks, when I come home for leave, I’m marrying Sarah.” I guess you thought I would be bummed out that there was no big fan-fare wedding – well I proved you wrong! I was elated and that simple family wedding was THE BEST! We love Sarah and are so thankful that she is your wife. You guys remind daddy and I of ourselves when we were young!!
I told you the other day {only half kiddingly}, “Don’t be surprised if when you are sitting on the tarmac in that plane about to take off to head to the Middle E*st for your 4th depl*yment, your boss turns to you and says, “What the heck? There is some crazy woman laying on the tarmac in front of the plane. We can’t go anywhere!”
And you will glance out the window and with wide eyes say,
“OH.MY.STINKIN’.GLORY.”
I reminded you, “The good news is that since I don’t look like you,
you could just pretend you didn’t know me, right?”
And so here we are again….
Hanging up yellow ribbons all over the trees that line the lane home.
And we couldn’t be prouder.
But we also couldn’t be more sobered than ever at what this means.
Sweet son, may our all-powerful God keep you in the palm of His hands. May He use you to minister to those you have responsibility for. May He give you wisdom beyond anything you could have humanly imagined. May His complete protection cover you from the top of your head to the bottom of your toes. May Almighty God be your rear guard. May He give you peace in the midst of war. May He who has trained your hands for battle, give you His supernatural strength. And may the God of all comfort allow His Holy Spirit to comfort you at all times.
We are honored to call you son.
You are our hero.
You have brought us far more joy than we could have ever dreamed.
We love you with all our hearts.
And we cannot wait to hear you are back, safely again, on Americ*n soil.
**And to all milit*ry families,
we honor you, we thank you
and our prayers continue for you
and your loved ones,
as well.**
God Bless Our Troops
Thank you, Tyler! And thank you, Linny and Dwight, Sarah, and the rest of the family!
We are proud of our military and pray for them always!
Amen.
Oh, Linny! Praying for the safety of your sweet boy. And so thankful to him and his heart and his service.
Hugs,
Jen
Thank you, Tyler, for protecting our freedom. Thank you to everyone who selflessly serves for America. Thank you to all the families that sacrifice time and lay their hearts on the line for the rest of us.
Humbled and proud to be called an American.
A HUGE Thank You to Tyler.
We will definitely be in prayer for him and his unit while he is gone to serve our country!
Thank you Tyler for your sacrifice for our country and for my family's freedom! Thank you Sarah for sacrificing time with your husband so he can serve! Thank you Linny and DW for being the kind of parents who, no matter how much it might pain you or worry you, allowed your son to be the man that God has called him to be!!!
God Bless You All! I will pray for you daily until those yellow ribbons come down and Tyler is safely home.
God bless your precious son and your mom heart!!! 🙂
Oh Linny…from one military mom to another..God bless you and God bless your precious boy. We are just starting our first deployment and I really didn't think I would make it through last week. I thought at some point I would run out of tears, but I haven't yet. Week 1 of 14 months is behind us…so many more to go….FOUR deployments!!!…Bless your sweet heart…next time let me know and I'll lay on that tarmac with you! 🙂 Your Tyler will be in my thoughts and prayers…please remember my David as well.
Love and Blessings,
Monica
Beautiful! Thank you to Tyler and all of your family for your sacrifice. I spent 10 months as a military wife before my husband was medically discharged, so the military is close to my heart.
Beautiful post my dear friend! Ty was adorable as a little guy and so handsome as a grown guy!!!
Our ribbons will be going up shortly as well.
Loving you!!
Tears….
I cannot imagine what you are going through mamma!
Thank you for sharing this heart felt letter.
Thank you Tyler for your selfless sacrifice.
Praying here for you Tyler! Thanking God that there are brave men and women who protect this great country of ours. Praying for your safety, wisdom, and strength in Christ.
Hugs from Indiana,
Janet, Kevin, Ted, Philip, and Elijah
Thank you Tyler and thank you to your entire family.
Peace,
:)De
What a beautiful letter and a treasure for Tyler. He is an amazing man. Love you guys!
Through my tears I tyoe this.. Thank you Tyler …and God Speed!!!
Kathie in NY
A very sweet letter and one that I'm beginning to fully understand. My son Joe is in the Navy and is training to be on a nuclear sub. I will be in your shoes next year sometime when he takes his first dive into the sea. I will be praying for yourprecious son. And I thank him and all of our military for their service. I will also pray for our families who greive everytime they leave!
God Bless you all!
Denise in Mi.
As a navy wife for 10 years, deployments NEVER get easier…
He and his wife will be in my prayers. Thank you for letting him serve and not talking him out of it! 🙂
Thank you for this letter! My 7 year old son continues to say he wants to go to the army. We are not a military family either and it scares me to think about it. I know God has an amazing plan for my son and I put all my trust in Him. This gives me peace to read this letter to your son.
Beautifully written…
What an amazing post to your son! God Bless him and all the troops that keep us safe and all the families that are home waiting for their loved ones to come home.
It does not get any more precious than that. God bless your sweet son, and God bless you.
What a beautiful letter with heartfelt emotions to your son. Coming from a military family, I wholeheartedly agree that deployments never get easier, but I am beyond thankful to all the troops for their service and dedication to our country. And I thank God for placing the call and desire in their hearts to do such work. It's not easy and the troops need our support and love. May Almighty God keep Tyler's mind in perfect peace, his body strengthened to do the work he's called to do, and his spirit lifted throughout the days ahead. And may God provide Sarah and your family comfort and certainty in your trust in Him to protect your dear loved one. God bless you.
P.S. Tyler was such a cute little fellow!
What a BEAUTIFUL and HEARTFELT post to your dear son Linny. It brought me to tears.
Tyler, you will do the USA proud 🙂
Dear Linny, have just read your beautiful letter to Tyler over breakfast in the England. The tears are still falling. I had a bad nights sleep and your whole family have been on my mind. This might sound strange as in the England we don't put up yellow ribbons, but I am going to tie a yellow ribbon to my bedside light as a constant reminder to pray for Tyler, his wife and you all as a family. Love Becky xxx
Thank you Linny for the post! I agree, deployments never get easier – and to be honest – I think they might even get harder (because you know how much you will miss your loved one) My husband is only gone for a week this time and the kids are devastated. I do not look forward to the day he announces he will be leaving for 6-8 months. 🙁 Praying for your precious Tyler over here in the Middle East (same time zone, I think!) Sending you e-mail regarding his location!
Thank you and all the families for their sacrifice. Keeping Tyler in prayer.
As another military Mom, all I can say is "Amen".
Sobs here.And THANK YOU Tyler and your family for your sacrifice for us.
Isaac,my 13 year old, has always "known" he will go into the military and it scares me to death. The Lord is in control! Isaac is in the Civil Air Patrol and like Tyler decided he doesn't want to be a pilot. Amazing how they can be so driven and aware of their call. Sheri
Thank you, Tyler, for your willingness to put yourself out there for the sake of others. I don't know that I could be so sacrificial. You teach us all a good lesson. Praying that your family finds peace in your absence. Praying for your safety!!!
Jackie Wetzel
Tyler,
Since your momma is like a momma to so many of us these days (or sister or aunt) its just fitting that you would feel like our family as well. My heart is heavy for you as you leave this country as if my own brother were leaving. Be safe and may the Lord of the universe keep His hand over you.
God Bless.
Goodness gracious, woman!
You have managed to make this old hardened military wife BAWL!
Tyler is certainly one amazing man. It was so beautiful to read more of his story… what a blessing he must be to you 🙂
Love and hugs to you and to all of those that are missing their military loved ones. It is indeed a duty of honor to serve this country.
Oh my Linny, crying so many tears as I read this…my boy is home on predeployment leave and we are in our final countdown of 3 days before he leaves us…my only son and yet the One who holds the stars in place holds my son in His hands…but for this we have Jesus…Will continue to pray for Tyler and his men and for you and your family!!!
Bless you,
Sandy B in Iowa
Thank you for sharing his story and how that seed of sacrificial service for a cause greater than himself was planted early in his heart. Praying for him and your family.
Oh Linny, you write the best letters!!! You are one amazing mom!!
Thank You to Tyler….what a blessing he is.
got me right in my heart linny. i am putting tyler on my prayer notepad right now.
What a beautiful tribute to your son. I loved your prayer for Tyler. Is it wrong to borrow a prayer? If not I would love to borrow that prayer for my son-in-law who will be leaving in November to go to Iraq. We too are so proud of him and his willingness to serve. I am in absolute awe of the courage these men and women have to do what they do. They deserve nothing less than to have all of us here lifting them up daily in prayer.
Mercy me…what a beautiful post for a beautiful SON! Praying for Tyler as he deploys again…his story is still being written, indeed!
Praying for you all. When a soldier goes to war, the entire family goes to war. Been there done that.
Thank you to your Tyler and sweet Sarah for giving their lives to protect our country.
HOlding you all close in thought and prayer.
Blessings,
Suzanne
Simply beautiful! You have such a wonderful way of putting things in words! Echoing your prayers for him. What a blessed mama you are!
Thanks for putting tears in my eyes. Beautifully written. It's hard having my husband in the military and we make it work and continue to choose this life together. But the idea of my son…it still really scares me, despite how proud I would be. Lots of love, hugs, and prayers!
Oh my, Linny. I shouldn't be reading at work. Now I'm crying. At least the students are gone.
My Caleb was like Tyler growing up…always talking of military…with no military background, no connections.
You know he's in the Navy now. Still in training. I'll be joining you soon with those ribbons.
And, hey, I may be swimming in front of a submarine…only thing is Caleb does sort of look like me. 😉
Prayers for you and for Tyler…and if he's reading…
Thank you, Tyler, for loving others enough to protect and defend our freedoms!
I WAS A MILITARY "BRAT" FOR MOST OF MY LIFE (BY WAY OF MY DAD WHO SERVED 27 YEARS IN THE AIR FORCE & MY HUSBAND WHO SERVED 22 YEARS ALSO IN THE AIR FORCE) WE ARE ALL VERY PROUD OF YOUR SON TYLER. AND THANKS FOR SHARING THE PICS OF YOU IN THE "YOUNGER DAYS" !!!
KAREN H.
Linny, my boys just saw a military man and asked if it was Tyler the other day. My heart just cries with you as you have to say goodbye once again. I'm so thankful for Tyler and the countless others like him who are serving our country and protecting those who are helpless to protect themselves. God Bless your family as you wait for your son, brother and husband to come home safely. Thank you for sharing so that we can pray for him while he is gone.
Lots of love,
jenn
Happy Gotcha Day Tyler! Thank you for putting your life on the line! I so hope some how you can read the most beautiful post that your Mom wrote and know that you were PLACED for such a time as this! God Bless You!
Thank you Tyler for your service! Praying for your safety and for peace for your sweet mama!
Linny, your post has sobered me as I sit here in my living room with a son on Honeymoon & my impatience at seeing him & his sweet new wife in a few months when they move near us.
Thank you for your families sacrifice for our benefit. May you continue to have the faith that sustains you and keeps you peaceful.
Linny,
This post is absolutely beautiful. You have a son to truly be proud of (and I think he'd say that he has parents to be proud of, as well!).
Blessings,
Sarah
this is so beautiful. i love seeing your early pictures of tyler & the family!
i cannot even fathom what you must feel. thank you, tyler. thank you, sarah. thank you to your whole family. holding all these families in my heart & in prayer!!