The July Trooper of the Month goes not to a person but to an entire family. The Sargent Clan has done a lot to earn this award over the past few months. Any one of the things they’ve done to help Michelle, and support the Vineyards and me would have been enough to clinch the award, but they’ve never ceased to out-do themselves.
Matt and Lisa have been so generous with their time. Matt has been helping out with any and every house project, weekend after weekend; enlisting his brother and braving the scorn of our neighbors. He even helped out with the yard despite his allergy to grass, which Michelle was not aware of until he was already wheezing, but, nonetheless continuing undaunted, tackling the yard work. He accompanied Michelle to the dump numerous times in our stinky truck. When the moving was officially under way, Lisa brought Michelle lunch and opened her own garage as a storage unit for the stuff they wouldn’t take and the stuff I’ll need when I get home. She even made room for Mike and Margaret’s huge mounted Buffalo, Wyatt. Lisa’s folks also made Michelle feel welcome in their home, inviting her to dinner every Sunday... and we mustn’t forget that at LEAST half of goodies sent to Mike, Margaret, and me in care packages are from Lisa and her mom. Lisa’s mom, Barbara, gets special thanks for all the baking. So yummy; it’s hard to share! Lisa's dad, Roger, was a great help too. He helped Michelle get the Expedition squared away before the big trek east. The poor truck was in a sorry state having been neglected for some time during the rush while I was preparing to deply. When Roger was done she was was looking all sparkly and new. Even Tyler has been helping out and sharing his birthday party with his soldier friends in Iraq.
They adopted Michelle as a member of their family; keeping her company and making her feel welcome all the time. She’s never had to worry about fitting-in or asking for help; they are always offering to help before she even knew she needed it. The hardest part of moving isn’t the packing or the cleaning, it’s having to leave great friends behind; we’re going to miss them a lot. But, in the Army we never say goodbye, only farewell ‘till we meet again. Hopefully it’s not too long.
I just have to echo Dan's sentiments here. The Sargents definitely deserve to be Troopers of the Month! They have been so generous and kind to me these past few weeks. I can't even imagine how lonely and difficult this experience would be without them. The world could use more people as sincere and thoughtful as the Sargents and I feel very lucky to count them as my friends! I never would have imagined I'd be this sad to leave Texas, but it will be very sad to leave the Sargents behind. Thanks for everything guys!
Thank You! But we would not want it any other way. We feel really blessed to have friends like you guys. We also know that if it were reversed, and Matt was gone and I needed help...you both would be there just the same. It is really hard to make unconditional friends ... and even harder to see them leaving. There are some friends, though, that no distance can keep apart. I have a feeling that our friendship will only continue to grow as the years go by.