Everyday Heroes

/ Jodi

Everyday Heroes.

They really are among us.

And I have to brag on one of them (maybe two).

For those of you that have been hanging around here at TheCreativeLifeinBetween for any length of time know about our amazing McHendy family.

Well – our youngest Jake (who we affectionately refer to as Baby Jake, but who is far from a baby these days!)  is now a distinguished Naval officer on a ship that was being commissioned this past weekend.  An Everyday Hero he is!

But behind the story of this great hero is another hero.  This everyday hero shuns the spotlight, but she does magical, amazing, generous acts of kindness behind the scenes.

She also just so happens to be my BFF.  Her name is Jill, and she is astonishingly extraordinary.  (Remember the Pay it Forward Christmas Gift Challenge?)

Well – much like any Mom of a military service person would do – Jill sends “care packages.”

But Jill doesn’t send care packages just to her son (our Jake), she sends them to the ENTIRE crew of the ship he is on – EVERY month!

She does it behind the scenes, all on her own, while also working full time and then some in an executive position, being a mom to four grown children and grandma to one (and a half!), and being an amazing friend and philanthropist.

When we recently celebrated Jill’s birthday, Jill insisted on paying the bill for lunch.  When paying, she told our server to “keep the change.”  The server questioned her to assure she meant what she said, because, you see, Jill tipped our server over double the amount of the cost of our lunch.  It was her “gift” to the server – on HER birthday!

That’s the kind of person she is…  Someone I can only aspire to be like!

When she was recently called up among dignitaries and military personnel and political celebrities to be honored at the commissioning of the naval ship our Jake is an officer on, she humbly accepted, but raised her arm in respect to doing it “all for the crew!”

I am so stinking proud of her, I had to share!  She will likely not be pleased, but hopefully she will forgive me, because she knows I am doing it out of love and respect for the amazing person she is.

Everyday heroes are among us!  And I am so honored to call one of them my BFF!

Love you Jill!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

 

 

 

54 thoughts on “Everyday Heroes”

  10. Thank you for a hating this wonderful story. And thanks to Jake for his service to our country. And to Jill, thanks for raising a son with the values and drive to become an officer in the armed forces of the USA!

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  14. Everyday heroes always fill us with hope for the future of our world! Thank you so much, Jodi, for sharing Jill and Jake with all of us. I read with tears in my eyes and so much admiration for each of them. It is a joy to read such happy news! ♡

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  18. So thrilled for Jill! I loved seeing the pictures she posted. She is an incredibly special person. Compassionate, generous, creative, philanthropic are just a few words to describe her. It is an honor to know her (and her family).

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  21. That is amazing! I loved sending care packages to my husband when he was in Afghanistan, but I never thought of sending to all the others in his unit. Thanks for sharing! She sounds amazing.

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  22. Why am I not surprised that you have a friend like Jill? And please tell her how much we appreciate her, and how proud we are of her son. We need more stories of heroes these days… They are true role models!!!

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  24. I love hearing about you two gals! I am in awe of you both, and wonder how you have the time and energy to do all the fun, wonderful things you post about! Obviously you have much better time management than I, (as well as the talent and skill) I don’t always get to read your daily blogs until random Saturday mornings…

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