Start Some Good with a Goose

First of all, God bless you for reading this sometimes silly and eccentric blog. Thank you for your visits and your kind comments and thoughts…

For the past year and a half, Mother Goose has been working on a mission with the Blue Star Family Platoon. It really all started as a response to a volunteer request for a non-existent organization. Well, you know Mother Goose…I just can’t leave things the way I find them. I have to always be starting some good somewhere in the world…

I began to attend family support meetings for parents of Marines, and seeing that they were hungry for connections to other families, I supplied them with Blue Star Banners. Each month I found myself at one of four different groups who meet in the Chicagoland area, collecting requests for the banners and then following up the next month and presenting the families with banners to hang in their windows.

One for Erik, one for Adam…

Many of my readers have visited the Facebook page I created for Blue Star Families.

This old tradition is still a valuable one — it’s really one of the first levels of connections we military families can make with each other and with our neighbors. Each star on the banner symbolizes a family member who is serving in America’s Armed Forces during a time of war or hostility. Ever since WWI families have been hanging banners in their windows. Of course, the family of Mother Goose sports a two-star banner — one star for Adam and one star for Erik who are my twin sailor sons.

My husband has been very proud of my efforts in support of military families in our area, but the cost of banners over the past 18 months has begun to take its toll on my checkbook balance… I had given away nearly seventy banners, and Mr. Goose thought maybe it was time for a new business plan.

So that’s why I’m VERY happy and excited to announce the launch TODAY of my peer-funding project and here’s a wonderful link to my site:

http://startsomegood.com/BlueStarFamilyPlatoon

If you click on that link, not only do you have the opportunity to support this good cause, but you’ll get to see a live video clip of me, Mother Goose, explaining my project and asking for your support! Wow! The real Mother Goose talking and telling a story! You won’t want to miss that show!

A huge thank you for your kind support of this fundraising campaign! If you can give, GREAT! If you can share it with others, GREAT! I’ll be sending out updates as the days go by so that you’ll know when we reach our tipping point and how the funds are being used.

We want to purchase more banners to give away.

We want to build a website for this good stuff.

We want to become a real non-profit 501(3)c so that we’ll be eligible for many grants and donations.

We want to expand our network and someday help to create a space for veteran and military families to gather.

Mother Goose is bringing smiles to the faces of proud military moms and dads all across the nation.

All big dreams start small — but no donation is too small for Mother Goose and the Blue Star Family Platoon!

Mother Goose Begins Another Blog Project

In response to an overwhelming request for more stories about our brave servicemen and women and the families who support them, Mother Goose is honking for joy to announce the launch of a new project, Mother Goose Salutes.

http://mothergoosesalutes.wordpress.com/

The mission is over in Iraq (as far as we know anyway…), and I know that our country is drawing down and out of Afghanistan. We have troops and advisors around the world, but no new wars coming up after Afghanistan. More than a decade of war has left our nation tired and in need of healing and restoration.

But by the same token, we have thousands of veterans to care for now that the wars are ending. We still have families flying Blue Star Banners and praying for their soldiers and sailors and airmen and women. And now we have the new policy from the Defense Department lifting the ban on women in active combat duty. The higher ups are beginning to dialogue about a new Selective Service plan that might include women.

There are so many stories of heroes and so many local events honoring our Heroes. Mother Goose is running from person to person in the Chicagoland area telling them that military families have special needs and challenges. You can see the tracks of her big old rubbery feet in the fresh-fallen snow — she’s got so much ground to cover and so many stories to tell. The Goosemobile is warming up even now for an appointment to talk with a Gold Star Mother about her upcoming “Support the Troops” project.

Will you follow me on that exciting journey?

Will you join me?

Are you afraid that Mother Goose will abandon her first love of telling heartwarming stories for the general public? Never fear! Mother Goose has been around for years and years telling those thought-provoking and tear-generating stories for all to hear. I’m not going anywhere far away, just another adventure around the corner.

With love and goosedown to stay warm today,
Mother Goose

Mother Goose and the Blue Star Banner Campaign

Two Blue Stars for my Sailors

Mother Goose has recently run across an old, old tradition that supports military families. In the first and second world wars, families who had men (or women) in the service would proudly hang these banners in their front windows to let the neighborhood know they were military families. They could have up to five blue stars on each banner. Sadly, some banners had gold stars instead of blue, and this signified that the family had made the ultimate sacrifice for the country. This was a very big deal back then. Everybody knew who was serving, and also who needed their prayers and support. Unfortunately, the tradition fell out of practice during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts and today you rarely see a banner in a window of a home.

But, you know Mother Goose…If there’s a change that needs to be made, Mother Goose is there honking about it.

I have ordered a banner for our front window with TWO blue stars, of course.

I am also volunteering locally to bring Blue Star banners back to the windows of military families in our town and neighboring communities. Volunteering has been so easy — I just brought a couple of nice posters to hang in the local libraries and village halls. I’ve sent a note to the news agency asking for some publicity. Maybe you’ll pass this post on to the military families that you know so they can get their banners…