Paul is running a marathon; I'm (maybe) doing pushups (if you'll come to my book signing)

First, a big shout out to Paul McCollom, who is running the Marine Corps marathon today to benefit the Fisher House Foundation.  As he says, he hopes the spectacle of his 61-year-old self hobbling across the finish line causes people to find out more about Fisher Houses, which provide housing for military families so they can be close to their wounded loved ones as they recover.  His fundraising page is here.

Second, a blanket invitation to all of you (and your friends) to come see me at the fabulous indie book store, Hooray for Books! in Alexandria, VA on Sunday, Nov. 8th at 1:00.  I'll be signing OPERATION YES, doing a reading, and perhaps demonstrating a few Miss Loupe style moves such as pushups. :)

For each book sold at this event, I'm donating $1.00 to Musicorps, which is another Fisher House program which helps wounded warriors recover through music.  I blogged about it at my Operation Yes site, beginning with:

How do you keep playing drums when the limb you use to operate the foot pedal is missing?  What if you have an artificial hand---can you learn to play the piano? If you were hit by a bomb and lost your leg, would you think to write a rap song for your son?  Read the rest of the post here.


If you want to support this great cause, but can't make it in person to the book signing, Hooray for Books will take your order over the phone: (703) 548-4092. Be sure to tell them how you'd like your copies personalized, and I'll sign them when I'm in the store on Nov. 8th. You can pick them up later in store (if you're local) or have Hooray for Books mail them to you for a flat fee.


Thank you so much for your support. We all lean on each other, and I'm grateful for each of you.

Hope is like a road in the country . . .

@TAPS4America: Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence. -Lin Yutang

I think that's my new favorite quote. And it reminded me that I wanted to tell you about Paul McCollom. Or rather, to let Paul tell you about himself. To tell you why he and many, many others are walking/running/striving to make one particular road come into existence: the road to recovery for wounded warriors and their families.

As he says: "I will be 61 this year but on October 25th I will be in Washington DC again running (mostly) 26.2 miles in the Marine Corps Marathon for Fisher House and military families. I am driven by the young men and women serving today; they are my brothers and sisters and my sons and daughters and I have an obligation to support them as long as I can put one foot in front of the other."

I supported Paul last year in his quest, and blogged about it in this post: Paychecks and Great Battles. I'm doing it again this year. He's the real deal.

Here's more about Paul and Fisher Houses:

I’m a Vietnam Vet, Army Medic, 1969-'70. My daughter is a Naval Academy Grad and US Marine Captain who has deployed to Iraq twice and her husband, also a Marine Captain, has deployed 4 times. She returned safely from her last deployment and she and her husband are serving at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia and should not be deployable until 2011.

Because our wounded are rarely treated at a facility near their home, a Fisher House provides a sanctuary where they can have their family with them during treatment. Along with other military families in similar circumstances, they stay free of charge to provide support and encouragement to each other. Here are just a couple of examples of how important Fisher Houses have been for families:

· The Mother of a badly wounded Marine could not afford a hotel so she slept in the back of her car in the hospital parking lot until someone found out and sent her to the local Fisher House.

· The family of a badly burned soldier was able to be with their son through much of his treatment and the many surgeries that took place. Not only did they stay at Fisher Houses but the Fisher Foundation paid for the airfare that they could not afford.

· A Marine Reservist who participated in the invasion of Iraq watched a year later as his Marine son deployed and was wounded in the Battle of Fallujah. For the next six months he and his wife literally passed each other in the air as one flew to the Naval Hospital in San Diego as the other was returning home to Michigan.

43 Fisher Houses have now been constructed across the country and more than 120,000 families have been guests, saving them more than $120 million in housing expenses. Currently Fisher Houses can care for about 12,000 families a year but the need continues to grow and 7 more houses are under construction with 11 more under planning for 2010 and beyond.

I know things are tough this year but if you are able to make a donation please go to this site: http://www.active.com/donate/FisherHouse2009MCM/McCollom

Veterans Day and the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon

For Veterans Day, Paul McCollom gave me permission to re-print his email about running the Marine Corps Marathon in honor of his daughter (who is deployed to Iraq) and to raise money for the Fisher House Foundation. If you remember, I first blogged about it here.

He's a funny guy and tells a great story:

Date: October 31, 2008

To: Team Fisher House Support Heroes

From: Elderly Marine Corps Marathon Finisher

_____________________________________________________________________

First of all I want to express a heartfelt THANKS to each and every one of you. In response to my requests (begging, pleading, etc) you contributed an amazing $9,450 to Fisher House Foundation; in total the 285 runners making up the 2008 Team Fisher House raised an incredible $375,000!

I promised you that I would absolutely refuse to quit and that I would make a spectacle of myself for Fisher House and I delivered on both as I finished slowly, in great pain, and ugly. How ugly was it you ask? It was so ugly that children screamed and ran, women fainted, grown men cried, a group of Eastern European villagers were passing out torches and pitchforks, and Marines scoffed. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating somewhat but while it did really hurt a lot over the last 6 miles I finished all 26.2 in just over 5 ½ hours. However you are the real Champions for Military Families and whether you believe it or not you were with me in spirit, your support sustained me, and I quite literally could not have accomplished it without you.

As I've said all along the marathon is simply a tool to bring attention to Fisher House, so to help you put a human face on all this I am going to tell you about two local families.

The first is about a Marine Mom in Saginaw, Michigan who called me after she heard about my fundraising activity. Her son was wounded in an IED incident just over two years ago and was treated in three different military hospitals over a 13 month period. She was with him for the entire time and told me that had it not been for Fisher House they would have had to sell their home and declare bankruptcy. Her son now lives at a local half-way house as he continues his struggle to lead an independent life.

The second is about another Michigan family whose son was badly burned more than a year ago in an IED incident. They too have spent months staying at a Fisher House in Texas as he continues his treatment but in addition to a place to stay the Fisher Foundation has paid most of their travel expenses as well. Stories like these are repeated daily at each of the 42 existing Fisher Houses. There were 38 Houses at the beginning of 2008, there will be 46 before the end of the year, there are more seven more scheduled for next year, and more are needed.

As for my daughter, 1^st Lt. Rebecca McCollom (soon to be Captain), she is in the third month of her second Iraq deployment and she remains my inspiration. She is well and working hard at doing whatever it takes to make sure that the Marines in her Company fulfill their mission, operate professionally, and return home safe and sound when their deployment ends. I was lucky enough to get a call from her as I was walking back to the hotel after the marathon. She was excited about my finishing and said that next year that she would run with me on Team Fisher House 2009 and that she would "kick my ass" (Marines talk that way). I told her I that I would hold her to that commitment but if she couldn't outrun me by at least an hour the Marines would probably kick her ass for embarrassing the Corps. By the way, you should consider this an early warning that I will be hitting on you again next year to continue your support for those who continue to sacrifice on our behalf.

I have a final story for you. A young soldier was near me at the start of the race and I continued to see him from time to time over the course of the marathon. When I hit my personal "wall" at mile 20 I lost track of him but I found out later that he went on to beat me to the finish by almost 15 minutes. I was ecstatic for him and moved by his accomplishment because he was running on one leg, damaged from combat wounds, and a high tech prosthesis; and he and his family had depended on a Fisher House during his recovery.

So that's my story of Team Fisher House and the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon. There is a lot more that went on during my training and great stories about some of you and more anecdotes from the marathon, but this is already longer than I wanted it to be. Any time now I expect some pictures from Fisher House and if you would like to see them I will be happy to pass them on, just send me a return email to let me know. Also, if you don't want to be bothered about Fisher House next year let me know that as well and I won't contact you again. Finally, if you can help me out with fundraising ideas for next year or would like me to talk to a group or organization just let me know.

You made a difference and my passion continues…

With Sincere Appreciation and Deepest Respect,

Paul McCollom

For pictures of Paul on race day, see here.

Paychecks and Great Battles

When I spoke to a high school creative writing class last year, they were fascinated by my paycheck for Letters From Rapunzel. But that's only because they thought the amount on the check (in the thousands) was for two weeks' work, not for the whole job, which took---who's counting?----TEN YEARS from start to finish. Okay, some goof-off breaks during that ten years, but still.

Yesterday was payday again, because my check for signing Operation Yes with Arthur Levine Books (Scholastic) arrived via FedEx. Whoop! I like getting paid. I try not to think of it in terms of hours worked. I think of it more like a large allowance.

But I was particularly excited to get this check because earlier this month, I saw a post over at The Sandbox about the Marine Corp Marathon. No, I'm not running the marathon. I'll stick with my three miles, thanks. But a sixty-year-old veteran is. Paul McCollom is a former Vietnam War Army medic, and now, his daughter is deployed to Iraq, and for her, he's running and raising money for the Fisher House Foundation. In his words,

"for those that don't know, a Fisher House is like a Ronald McDonald house for the families of wounded and injured service men and women. The Fisher House Foundation recognizes the sacrifices of our wounded service members and their families and provides a sanctuary where they can be together during treatment for serious injury or physical therapy. They build, furnish and equip multi-bedroom houses where military families in similar circumstances can stay, free of charge, and provide support and encouragement to each other."

In Operation Yes, parents and children and teachers fight great battles every day, some with the stress of deployment and some with fear and some with knowing what the right choices are. Yes, they live normal, wonderful lives, too, but it takes a lot of relying on courage and love to have a parent in the military. Or a brother or sister in the military. Or a child in the military. As the veteran father, Paul McCollom, says in his post, he felt a need to DO something.

So do I. I'm sponsoring him with part of my paycheck. If you want to read about his efforts, go here. And while I welcome you to join me, I understand if there are other great battles you wish to support.

Now, off to run my slow three miles...

"Be kind, for everyone you know is fighting a great battle." ----Philo of Alexandria