Wednesday, December 24, 2008

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I'll Be Home For Christmas

I wont and neither will the men and women of our armed forces fighting for the freedom of... well, I guess shoe throwing, in Iraq. So one wonders what's the next best thing for those families with members stationed in a war? Why it's a piece of cardboard!

FLAT DADDY!


"Flat Daddies and Flat Mommies are life-sized printed posters of parents who are actively serving overseas in the military"


I finally was able to get a picture of dd giving her "daddy" kisses before bed. the flat daddy has helped so much and we love it! -- d. pulliam


Here is our flat daddy sitting at the dinner table. He also rides with us in the car,sleeps in his bed and the dogs just love him.. Well, Love to bark at him.. But recently while he was home for R&R(June 08) the dogs knew who he was and I think that has a lot to do with flat daddy since they were just puppies when Dad left! -- Beverly Bloom


This form only allowed me to submit one photo with my story but I also wanted to share with you my 6yr old hugging our flat daddy. -- Stacy Beilke


This form only allowed me to submit one photo with my story but I wanted you to see our baby playing with the flat daddy. He's spent more time with his flat daddy than his real daddy. It means so much to me to keep that bond going. Thanks! -- Stacy Beilke


My husband was gone through most of my pregnancy. So, we took him along to doctor appointments, he sat at the table for Thanksgiving and Christmas, came to my baby shower, and of course was at the birth. Here is a shot of him at my ultrasound. Having my Flat Husband meant the world to me and became a huge hit with our family and helped me deal with him being away when I needed him. Thanks so much -- Sara


"When I got my daughter's flatdaddy in the mail I wasn't quite sure what to do with it. It took me a week to decide. It was kind of hard for her to carry it, but she wanted him to go everywhere with her. So I made it into a backpack! She loves that she can carry him anywhere and not worry about tripping or falling over. Thank You so much! She can love on him anytime she wants....This has made one little girl very happy!!! -- Sonya Predmore"

This picture is like the Humane society fire. It's both sad and funny at the same time. Talk about emotional baggage. Imagine if she walks past a wall or fence and all you can see is the soldier's face popping out. You look out the window and there's this smiling soldier holding a gun, silently gliding past your house.

A while ago I saw a series of photos and interviews of an army wife, half from before and half from after her husband was killed. She had a Flat Daddy and in the 'after' photos there was like one of her just lying on a mattress staring at it and sobbing. Pretty fucked up. The worst part is that there all in uniform in the source images. Now the only memento she has is a reminder of what he was doing when he died and not the actual human being that she cared about.

I'm wondering how they deal with receiving a phone call informing you that your husband was killed in Iraq, and you turn around to have that soulless piece of cardboard staring straight through your eyes and into your soul.


so, it turns out this is the saddest thing possible.

Then again, it's also up there on the scale with how creepy it is.

No matter if you're feeling sad or laughing at how creepy this may look, there's one thing to take away from all this; Many people aren't home for the holidays. Looking past the gifts (Ok, I'm not materialistic ALL the time) and the food (God damn tamales!) you need to find the true meaning of Christmas. It's not about some baby being born to a virgin, even if there ever was a dude named Jesus, he wasn't born in December in the desert. That's for damn sure. The real meaning of Christmas is to spend it with some friends and family. Even if it's only a couple of moments, they should be ones you treasure.

You never know when you're going to have to settle for some cardboard cutout of that person you're missing.

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