My Two Sons

 "Tommy, the yard looks terrible! And, you know what your job is! You have to pick up the pine cones!”

“Mom, I hate my job! Why can’t I mow like Bobby gets to do?”

Bobby, my other son, pipes in. “Oh, no, I like my job and you’re not getting it!”

“Okay, Tommy, I will help you pick up the cones. We are racking the pine needles, too.” Our driveway needs to be redone.”

After a little more persuasion, Tommy and I would march outside to clean up our 1 acre yard. I would get out the wheelbarrow and we got to work. The pine cones large and had to be discarded into burn piles in the back of our land. There were so many pine needles; we made a driveway of them straight from the street to our front door.

It all started about 28 years earlier in a single-wide trailer in the woods near Orlando, FL. Bob and I got married and moved into it. It was on my step-father’s land so we only had to pay our mortgage on the mobile home (at 17% interest!). Bobby was born there 10 months after our wedding.

Then, the next year we moved north to Yulee, Florida.. It was odd to see all our possessions, including our house, go down the road hauled by a semi-trailer. In Yulee, we lived in Goodbread Mobile Home Park for two years as Bob worked full time for the Florida Air National Guard or FANG. After a year in the Park, my second son was born, Tommy. I became a substitute teacher and part-time cashier. I liked tutoring and babysitting, too. Of course being a mom to these two was a full-time, though unpaid, job.

Finally, we moved to our own land which consisted of one square acre of land and our little trailer right in the middle of it. There, it was surrounded by large southern pine trees and in front it had a small live oak. In fact, the name of our street was Live Oak Drive. At first, it was a dusty, dirt road, but, later, they paved it.  We lived in that house for 15 years.

Bobby was diagnosed with hyperactivity with attention deficit disorder when he was four and Bob and I tried our best to cope with it. He was on Ritalin most of his childhood. Tommy also was diagnosed with this, but was able to control himself so I did not put him on medication. They played in the dirt, built forts and shot BB guns. When they were too excited, I had them run in circles around the outside of the house until they were tired. I graphed their good behavior on a chart every day. We also brought them to church and I read the Bible, along with other good books, to them every day. And we always had bedtime prayers.

Finally, we moved back to Orlando and from there, Bob retired from FANG and he got another job which brought us to Plant City. And we finally owned our own concrete-block three bedroom, two bath home. By then, they were teenagers.

One day when Bobby was 17 and a senior in high school, he walked into the room and announced: “Mom and Dad, I’m joining the military.”

“What?” I questioned. “I thought you were going to College!”

“No, Mom, I want to follow my dad but not into the Guard. I want to go into the full-time Air Force.”

“Okay, Son,” Said his Dad. “That’s great!”

I said nothing. I was at a loss for words.

“I’ve been talking to a recruiter and I’m ready to take my ASVAB test.”

Well, he had it all planned. And his deployment date was going to be 9-11-2001. I was crying and fretting about that date BEFORE anyone else was. Finally, it was the eve of September 11th. His Dad and I had dropped him off at the hotel. He was going to MEPS (Military Entrance Personnel Station) the next day. I asked him a profoundly premonitional question:

“Son, what would you do if hijackers tried to take over your plane?”

His answer was: “I would fight those hijackers and kill them and take the plane back.”

“Do you know how to fly a plane?”

“Of course I do, mom! Or I would figure it out.”

I gave him a big hug.

So we went home. And the next day, he sat at the Center and watched the tragedy of 9/11. It changed all our lives forever. He came back for a few days to pray with us before he left for good and he was very serious about his mission after that. He has served now for nine years and has been to Korea, Afghanistan and Germany. He wants to get out next year and become a minister and missionary…to the USA! He wants to revive ailing churches. He plans to go to Bible College with a wife and three children in tow.


Tommy’s life's been remarkable, too. He started out after high school working at Wal-Mart and did that for four years. Bobby came home on leave one day and talked him into at least considering the military. Tom looked at all the web sites. He had dropped out of his senior year in high school and only had a GED. So the only branch that could take him was the Army. Still, he was wondering if that’s what he wanted to do.

One morning a few days later I was going to work. I heard Charles Stanley preaching on the radio and he advised you “should pray with your children about God’s will for their lives.” I felt like this was the Lord speaking to me. I went home that evening and prayed with Tom. That night, at Wal-Mart, they called him into the office. They said, “We are giving you the day off to think about what you want to do with your life. If you don’t shape up, you’re out of here.” They were complaining because he called in sick 3 times in the past year.

When he got home in the morning from he worked the nightshift, he had decided what to do. “Mom and Dad,” he said, “I’ve made my decision. I’m joining the Army.” He left about a week later.

He had basic training at Ft Leonard Woods and trained to be a Military Police Officer. He graduated 1st in his class of two hundred with all kinds of awards. He went to Korea for one year, came back to Ft. Stuart, GA for 3 months and then went to Afghanistan for a year. We went to see him and say good-bye. We met all his squad that would be going with him. He left in August, 2009 and we heard about two months later that his squad leader was killed by a roadside bomb. Two of the guys in his squadron were also seriously injured. He was awarded a medal for bravery; he had recovered the body of his leader under heavy enemy fire.

He has finally returned home now. He thanks all of us for our prayers. He had many experiences when he narrowly missed death or injury. He now wants to leave next year to go to college and become a movie director. He likes fantasy and science fiction. Or, as a back-up he could have a career in law enforcement.

My sons have come a long way and I salute them. They have risked their lives for this country. Now, can we as a country, measure up to their dreams? What will their futures be like? The hour looks so dark. We can only hope and keep praying that America proves once again that it trusts in God. For He is our only hope.