How (and why!) Full Circle Home came to be

People are so enamored by WHAT we do, the crazy way we get it done, our steadfast stubbornness to not take corners that might lessen the impact, and the fact that we sometimes get it done by sheer will, that they don’t learn the beginnings of Full Circle Home. And when they learn how this journey started, it often just all falls into place - it makes perfect sense.

The short story is that my Marine son was deployed and asked me to send some Christmas gifts to his girlfriend Ashley, now his wife. That was in 2006. Twelve Days of Christmas, a sweet little gift for each day to hopefully take the sting out of the fact that the person she loved was deployed quite far away. Ashley was taken aback and was SO delighted. She had been sending letters and packages to Gil about 3 times a week so she never thought that SHE would be getting anything. (Yes, Gil was that Marine getting ALL the mail!) What I wasn’t expecting was Gil’s reaction. I could hear the smile in his voice when he told me about how happy he was able to make Ashley (with a little help from his mom.) It was then that I realized that this gift went both ways - it was for her and for him.

When Gil was coming home after his deployment, we were waiting in the airport and was told that there was a soldier returning. Would we like to welcome him home as well? Most certainly!! We all went over to his gate joined the group. I met this soldier’s family and in particular, his mom, Lisa Miller. There were many hugs and congratulations! I never expected to see her again, but we left with wonderful feelings.

Fast forward a year. Gil was deploying to Iraq and was a newly minted Team Leader. I thought, certainly, I could help his squad of 12 men send their love notes and a 12 gifts to their hero at home! At the same time, Lisa’s son, Stuart was stoplossed - he was due to get out of the army but was being deployed again. Through a mutual friend, Lisa found out what I had started and jumped in without hesitation! She signed her son’s unit up at deployment, Gil’s squad and more signed up - I was even sending forms overseas through anysoldier.com. Somehow from the cornel of the idea at the end of September, to shipping in December, we were able to raise funds to cover the gifts, wrap 1,800 shiny little boxes and get 150 box sets out. Lisa and I were battle buddies and never let the end goal out of our sight, connecting these service members and those they love in the most heartfelt way was all we focused on!

The wrapping. Oh the preparation of it! We have learned SO MUCH! We learned that you don’t open all 1800 gift boxes at once, in your home; that is takes a lot more shred and many more hours and people than we thought; that shred and sparkles hang around long after the holiday; that there are SO many really amazing and wonderful people out there, people who WANT to say thank you to our troops in a meaningful way but often just don’t know how.

After we took them to the post office (yes, we processed them one at a time over the counter) we took a breath, started shopping for our families about December 22, and then the phone started ringing. Wives and moms who were overcome with emotion and gratitude called us. I talked to a mom for over an hour on Christmas Day! Lisa and I might have orchestrated this, but we were one of them. Our sons were still deployed that Christmas. Helping 150 other women helped us get through this difficult time. I am so grateful for all those wonderful women, some who I am still in contact with today.

And then…we just didn’t stop.