Thank you to Team Queen, Andy, Halo & SKINN COSMETICS!!!!!!Nikki, what an inpiration.....

Saturday we visited McQuire hospital in Richmond, Va. Thank you so much to all who shared the journey.

This weekend started out with a visit to McQuire Hospital in Richmond, Va. Thank you to all of my sister queens for sharing the journey and touching so many people lives. I was truly amazed at the courage, strength and truly internal beauty that was in each and every one of the ladies. Thank you to Joe Finch and the Armed Forces Foundation for arranging this. You are an inspiration.

McQuire hospital specializes in spinal chord injuries. Although a veterans hospital,many of the wounded were wounded in the Iraq war and were there due to the severity of their injuries in the spinal region. Many of the wounded showed such courage and spirit. Some were young, some old. There were a few that I think we all were particularly touched by. One was Josh and his fiance. Josh is 23 and has been there since January. He was tubed and could not speak. His body was clearly emaciated from having been in this state for quite a few months. His fiance was by his side. She is all of 21 and has never left his side. The walls of his room were covered in pictures of a life that in all likelihood, they would never live again. I found myself wondering how does someone find this strength at such a young age. Humbled is the only way to descibe how I felt.

There is a picture that was taken with Josh and many of the queens. He looks like he is smiling...I hope so.

The other was Daniel. He has been in coma for a year and is 22. His mother was by his side and showed such strength in spirit and pride in her young son. When you walked in the room it was not initially obvious that he was in a coma as he was blinking. The walls were covered in Army banners. You could feel his Army pride.


Perspective is a funny thing and there are days that I forget just how precious each moment of each day is and just how special family and friends truly are. We all hear life is short but when you see just how short it can be for a 22 or 23 year old who just wanted to make a difference. It puts everything in perspective. These are our heroes and the one's who talked, just wanted to go back. I pray that the heavens will shine down on them and each day I will remember Josh and Daniel. That to me puts everything in my life in perspective.

These are the beauty queens who visited the troops on 22 Sep:
Mrs. D.C. International 2008 - Deanna M. Linz
Mrs Virginia United States 2007 - Jennifer Phillips
Mrs. Galaxy 2007 - Darlene Deeben
Mrs. Mercer County New Jersey United States 2008 - Mary Moulds
Mrs. Glen Allen Virginia United States 2008 - Allison Hubble
Mrs. Richmond, Virginia International 2008 - Joy Phister
Mrs. Southern Chesterfield Virginia United States 2008 - Maria Beall
Ms. American Renaissance 2007 - Marci McNair
Mrs. New Jersey International 2008 - Kimberly Meehan
Mrs. Piedmont Valley International 2008 - Rebecca Crossan



God bless to all who serve, their families, my family and my beautiful sisters in pageantry....

PS-Thank you to Andy for being there and taking our pictures. I LOVE YOU!!!!

I wanted to thank "TEAM QUEEN" for this Sundays walk in Annapolis for Breast & Ovarian Cancer Research. THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION!!!!!!

http://www.nbocc.org/

Nikki Karl you are a true inspiration and to Lois Lane...this one is for you! LOVE YOU!


TEAM QUEEN
Deanna Linz- Mrs DC International 2008
Mary Moulds-Mrs Mercer County US
Kimberly Meehan- Mrs New Jersey International 2008
Marci McNair- Ms American Renaissance
Yolanda Makle Rodriguez- Mrs Earth 2008
Ellie Teeson
Kristie Barlow- Miss Teen DC International

I hope you are able to join us!

Also, thank you to SKINN Cosmetics (www.skinncosmetics.com) for your continued sponsorship! I am blessed!!!!!

I will post pictures after the weekend.

United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD

Exhausting day!!!!!



War Memorial built in 2004
The burial site of John F Kennedy & Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Arlington National Cemetary

Good morning-

This past weekend was a busy weekend full of history & family. A special THANK YOU to Senator Bob Casey of PA for affording us the opportunity to tour the White House. No pictures (or purses etc) were allowed inside for security reasons. It was amazing to see all the history and the various roooms. The decor has been greatly preserved over the years but also refurbished with each new administration. The china patterns of each administration was something my husband thought I would like. I thought the paintings of all of our Presidents and First Ladies were amazing and made me realize how much I have forgotten about US history!!!!

I wanted to send a special thank you to Allison Hubble, Mrs Glen Valley, VA 2008, Jennifer Phillips, Mrs VA US 2007 and Marci McNair and for volunteering their time and support to the Armed Forces Foundation on September 22nd at McQuire Hospital. Check out www.armedforcesfoundation.com and America Supports You.mil to learn more.

If you are interested or able to help out, information is listed below.

Here is the info:

We are joining forces with VFW post 6364 and will have a Monte Carlo and
casino day, followed by dinner.

The location at H.H. McGuire on 22 September is the Spinal Cord Injury
unit (SCI) patio. There will be plenty of signs showing you the way to
volunteer parking etc and you will see us out there.
It is on the South West side of the hospital.
Turn right as you enter the main gate and follow signs to Spinal Cord
Injury unit.

Please mapquest for directions to the hospital.


Thank you Joseph R. Finch!!!!!! You support and dedication to our military personel and their families. You are amazing!!!!

Good morning-

Below is an email from Becky Campbell, the Founder/CEO of the CHildren of Fallen Soldiers Relief Fund. If you are able to help or want to become involved, please feel free to email me or Becky. Her email is listed below.

God bless and God Bless America!

Dear Friends and Associates,

Just a note to let you know that we are still here to help fallen service members families with financial hardships, college scholarships as well as severely wounded veterans affected by the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, however, we are slow in receiving applications and ask that you share our website with those that may have a need. Since 2005 our Grant Committee has approved a total of $133,542 in awards & scholarships and we are certain there are many more families in need of help.

Also, we have many members of the public that would like to help our troops by mailing items overseas, visiting them in hospitals and providing items during their medical stay and/or rehabilitation. If you know and can share information with us so that we can have items specific to a service members needs, unit, etc., please feel free to contact us.

Many of our inquiries come before the holidays and last year we managed to put together our "Adopt A Family" program where we matched surviving service member families with sponsoring families, classrooms, etc., it took several weeks of full-time effort to handle the incoming requests from sponsoring families and the matching, Xmas lists, etc., but time willing and with the help of volunteers we would like to do it again this holiday.

For updates on our progress, events that our wonderful supporters are planning and further information, please visit our website.

Thank you for your time and God Bless!

Becky Campbell, Founder/CEO

http://www.cfsrf.org
(301) 865-6327 (CFSRF)
Email: yellowribbon7@msn.com


"Giving a gift back to those who serve"