Tuesday, June 15, 2010

How My Mom Took an Army Soldier Down

Oh, this is good.  Priceless, really; you're gonna love it.  I have to thank Shannon, of Mobile Army Family, for sharing this story with me, because it will be told for generations in my family...

So, Shannon's U.S. Army soldier husband, "M" (who has never even met my mom or heard of her) ended up needing medical attention a few days ago because of her. Yes, it's all her fault, and here's why....

M is assigned to a famous military base in Texas (you know, where the temperature is 100 degrees by 9am) and was doing some marching "Hooha!" thing (three hours, 12.8 miles, in full gear, including armor plates and combat boots). The poor guy was near the end (both physically and mentally) his feet were raw. He, like the other 550 comrades behind him, "could feel the blood seeping through his socks."  Listening to his I-pod often helped him push through the tough spots, and it had, up to this point, but that was soon to change.

Shannon, a nurse-to-be, was serving as a medic at the finish line when she looked up and saw her husband staggering up to the finish with a very odd look on his face; like he was hallucinating or something, and suddenly, he reached down for something, tripped, and fell!  She was treating someone else at the time, but spoke with him a few minutes later, asking, "What the heck was that all about?!" M explained....

He was almost to the end of his grueling march (very competitive--he wanted to be in the top finishers) when suddenly, a song on his Ipod threw him for a loop! Instead of AC/DC or Metallica, M said, "I heard your mom singing Happy Birthday to me! I thought she was here or something!"  [Shannon's mom passed away more than a year ago.]   What in the world?!  Was he, in his over-heated, exhausted state, hallucinating?!  M fumbled with his Ipod to look at the screen, tripped, and fell.

Puzzled, Shannon gently removed M's boots (which took five minutes) and found an ugly mess so bad that I can't post a pic. (Just picture black toenails, blood, a broken toe, and a lot of raggedy skin.) As she worked on the battered feet, it dawned on her....

See, a month or two ago, Shannon had downloaded my mom's Happy Birthday to me, rather than just playing it (because she couldn't get it to play otherwise.)  Songs downloaded on her computer default to her I-tunes account and automatically get uploaded into her I-pod when she syncs it.  She had realized the song was there but didn't delete it, because she thought it was kind of cute.

Something tells me her husband might not think so....

Only kidding. He was able to laugh about it later. Until today....Monday....the birthday of the United States Army. Poor M had to march again!

I wonder if he used Mom's song to help him get through it!

16 comments:

  1. That is really something. Mom told me about this story today on my weekly phone call, and added more to it, but I bet that second part will be another blog, so I will keep my mouth shut!
    As I was reading that paragraph about how the song got into her Ipod I thought boy, if someone had been in a coma for even just a few years, they would NOT know what all those strange new terms were. :0

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  2. Such a great story....see your Mom's singing is pretty special to so many...I hope you like sharing!

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  3. Now that is priceless! I remember that birthday song too. Poor guy is near the end of his death march, and thinks he hears a dead woman singing to him. Just too funny.

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  4. That is awesome. And funny. Does your Mom understand the kind of power she wields and is she willing to use that power to help me take over the blogosphere?

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  5. Now there's one for the books! What a funny story, unless of course you are the poor soldier. What will your Mom think of it? :)

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  6. Oh my, after a long march in the heat the poor guy must have thought he was hallucinating! Makes for an amazing blog post story though!

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  7. I asked if he listened to the ipod yesterday during his run. He didn't. He was running late so he was more focused on being mad at himself.

    Do you think your Mom would sing some other song so I can download it to my ipod list??? It could get good if I milk the fact that my Mom is trying to tell him something. :) I bet my Mom is chuckling up in Heaven over this. :) Thanks for this blog... M was a bit embarassed and didn't want his family to see...I told him I wouldn't blog about it... What I didn't say is that someone else wouldn't. :)

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  8. Super funny!!! Your mom is a living legend! Her powers are far-reaching!

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  9. Great story. I bet your mom is enjoying her part in this event.

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  10. Mom is having a ball with this story! She's been telling everyone about it for days! :) I'm sure she'd love to sing another for you Shannon.

    Weaselmomma-What Mom would probably love is to become famous and be interviewed about this on every television network. You've got connections...How about a leg up?haha (The only hitch is that Shannon's husband probably wouldn't want to go on national TV with this story!haha)

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  11. I had a dear aunt die last summer. I never had a reason to call her, but had her home number in my cell, just in case. Well, I had surgery in November for a brain tumor....all went well, but a couple months later I'm at home one evening when my cell phone rings an the caller ID says... Aunt Verna.....Now we all knew Aunt Verna had connections, but to be calling from the beyond....a bit unnerving. It was actually my cousin who is living at the house with my uncle. Aunt Verna's husband. It took me most of the phone conversation to remember that my cousin was staying there. When I did figure it out I told her and we had a good laugh.

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  12. Your Mom is a rock star! What a great story (except for the realllly bad feet part) And that she's getting such a kick out of the story is even better.

    Now, why on earth do they make those poor guys run like that? I must be a wimp, cuz I know I'd never make it.

    Great story!
    jj

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  13. What a fun and FUNNY story!!! Too bad there wasn't a video camera in motion, although it couldn't be as funny as the image in my head :)

    Lucy

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  14. That is so funny! Your mom probably never guessed when you started this blog how far her influence would reach!

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