thedrifter
12-25-06, 09:12 AM
Safe at home for holiday
Mount Dora mom is with her military sons for first Christmas since 1999
Jeff Kunerth | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 25, 2006
Today, Linda Gresham gets a mother's reprieve from worry.
All four of her sons are in the military. Three have been to Iraq. One was wounded.
"I tell them I worry, and they say, 'Mom, that's your job.' And I do it very well," said Gresham, 52, of Mount Dora.
This Christmas, for the first time since 1999, all four are expected home for the holidays.
There's 34-year-old Rene, the serious, never-smiles-for-photographs oldest brother in the Marines who paints toy soldiers for fun. And 31-year-old Pete, the cutup with a talent for drawing and six months left in his tour with the Army. And Jon, 29, the extrovert who just got back from his second tour of Iraq with the Army. And Joe, the shy one, the baby at 22, who joined the Air Force in January.
"It's just like a giant blessing," Gresham said. "I just feel for a little while it's like the olden days when they were four little boys at home, and I'm cooking, and they're playing the Xbox or PlayStation and watching television."
On the front window of her house, Gresham has a banner with four blue stars, one for each son -- a tradition started in World War II. There's also a hand-lettered sign taped to the window that tells all the world: "Jon is back!! Safe from Iraq!! Thank you, Lord!"
Jon Machuca understands his mother's stress. She supports her sons, even encouraged them to join the service, but lives every day knowing that something tragic could happen.
"Since the war kicked off, she's had a son in Iraq. One of us has been there all the time," he said.
Gresham was watching the news and reading the papers when the Marines were suffering losses in Ramadi, wondering whether her son Rene Machuca was all right. He called her to say he was OK and then called a couple of days later to say that wasn't exactly true.
A roadside bomb had exploded by his Humvee and peppered his neck with shrapnel.
"He said, 'Mom, I just wanted to tell you don't get upset, but I was actually hurt a little bit. I wasn't going to tell you, but I've been told they automatically call the family when a Marine is wounded or hurt,' " Gresham said. "And they did. If I had gotten that call out of the blue, I would have freaked out."
A mother wants to protect her children, and sons in the military want to protect their mothers. They don't tell her things -- even when she asks -- that they don't want her to know about their wartime experiences.
"I just tell her, 'I'm OK. Everything's fine. I'm alive,' " Pete Machuca said.
"That's all I need to know -- they're fine," his mother said.
You have to know this about Linda Gresham: She is one of those moms who keeps everything. If it isn't catalogued inside her photo albums, it's stashed in the cardboard boxes marked with each child's name.
From Jon's box, she retrieves a paper he wrote when he was 8 that he wanted to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or become a "Green bary" when he grew up.
And from Pete's box, she saved the autobiography he wrote when he was 10 with the smiling picture he drew of himself on the front: "The best part of the day to me is lunch, then snack time, then story time."
There are all the family portraits of the boys dressed alike and wearing the "mushroom" haircuts that mom gave them herself to save money. In each of the photos, going far back into childhood, a solemn Rene Machuca stares back.
"Rene is very serious. He's more quiet, reserved," Gresham said.
Rene, who was expected to arrive from New Orleans early today, said he's always aware that the risks of his military service make life more difficult for his mother.
"You never know what is going to happen. That's something always on my mind," Rene said. "This will be special because my brother Jon is back from Iraq. It will give her a little less worry for a little while."
Rene is one of the reasons Linda Gresham has a military family. He was gung-ho from childhood, enlisting as soon as he turned 18. The Marines transformed him enough to impress even his siblings.
"He set the tone. Boot camp does something to them. They become men. They walk taller. They will look you in the eye when they talk to you. They are so much more respectful of the people around them," Gresham said. "They were always good boys. Now they are great men."
Today, on Christmas, Linda Gresham and her four sons plan to follow their family tradition of going to a movie together. Sometimes she let them pick the flick. This time, she chose it herself: the Ben Stiller movie Night at the Museum.
Not everybody was thrilled with the choice.
"Oh, God," Pete groaned, "I've been trying to avoid that one."
But like his brothers, Pete relented, because for Linda Gresham this Christmas is also Mother's Day.
Jeff Kunerth can be reached at jkunerth@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5392.
Ellie
Mount Dora mom is with her military sons for first Christmas since 1999
Jeff Kunerth | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 25, 2006
Today, Linda Gresham gets a mother's reprieve from worry.
All four of her sons are in the military. Three have been to Iraq. One was wounded.
"I tell them I worry, and they say, 'Mom, that's your job.' And I do it very well," said Gresham, 52, of Mount Dora.
This Christmas, for the first time since 1999, all four are expected home for the holidays.
There's 34-year-old Rene, the serious, never-smiles-for-photographs oldest brother in the Marines who paints toy soldiers for fun. And 31-year-old Pete, the cutup with a talent for drawing and six months left in his tour with the Army. And Jon, 29, the extrovert who just got back from his second tour of Iraq with the Army. And Joe, the shy one, the baby at 22, who joined the Air Force in January.
"It's just like a giant blessing," Gresham said. "I just feel for a little while it's like the olden days when they were four little boys at home, and I'm cooking, and they're playing the Xbox or PlayStation and watching television."
On the front window of her house, Gresham has a banner with four blue stars, one for each son -- a tradition started in World War II. There's also a hand-lettered sign taped to the window that tells all the world: "Jon is back!! Safe from Iraq!! Thank you, Lord!"
Jon Machuca understands his mother's stress. She supports her sons, even encouraged them to join the service, but lives every day knowing that something tragic could happen.
"Since the war kicked off, she's had a son in Iraq. One of us has been there all the time," he said.
Gresham was watching the news and reading the papers when the Marines were suffering losses in Ramadi, wondering whether her son Rene Machuca was all right. He called her to say he was OK and then called a couple of days later to say that wasn't exactly true.
A roadside bomb had exploded by his Humvee and peppered his neck with shrapnel.
"He said, 'Mom, I just wanted to tell you don't get upset, but I was actually hurt a little bit. I wasn't going to tell you, but I've been told they automatically call the family when a Marine is wounded or hurt,' " Gresham said. "And they did. If I had gotten that call out of the blue, I would have freaked out."
A mother wants to protect her children, and sons in the military want to protect their mothers. They don't tell her things -- even when she asks -- that they don't want her to know about their wartime experiences.
"I just tell her, 'I'm OK. Everything's fine. I'm alive,' " Pete Machuca said.
"That's all I need to know -- they're fine," his mother said.
You have to know this about Linda Gresham: She is one of those moms who keeps everything. If it isn't catalogued inside her photo albums, it's stashed in the cardboard boxes marked with each child's name.
From Jon's box, she retrieves a paper he wrote when he was 8 that he wanted to join the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or become a "Green bary" when he grew up.
And from Pete's box, she saved the autobiography he wrote when he was 10 with the smiling picture he drew of himself on the front: "The best part of the day to me is lunch, then snack time, then story time."
There are all the family portraits of the boys dressed alike and wearing the "mushroom" haircuts that mom gave them herself to save money. In each of the photos, going far back into childhood, a solemn Rene Machuca stares back.
"Rene is very serious. He's more quiet, reserved," Gresham said.
Rene, who was expected to arrive from New Orleans early today, said he's always aware that the risks of his military service make life more difficult for his mother.
"You never know what is going to happen. That's something always on my mind," Rene said. "This will be special because my brother Jon is back from Iraq. It will give her a little less worry for a little while."
Rene is one of the reasons Linda Gresham has a military family. He was gung-ho from childhood, enlisting as soon as he turned 18. The Marines transformed him enough to impress even his siblings.
"He set the tone. Boot camp does something to them. They become men. They walk taller. They will look you in the eye when they talk to you. They are so much more respectful of the people around them," Gresham said. "They were always good boys. Now they are great men."
Today, on Christmas, Linda Gresham and her four sons plan to follow their family tradition of going to a movie together. Sometimes she let them pick the flick. This time, she chose it herself: the Ben Stiller movie Night at the Museum.
Not everybody was thrilled with the choice.
"Oh, God," Pete groaned, "I've been trying to avoid that one."
But like his brothers, Pete relented, because for Linda Gresham this Christmas is also Mother's Day.
Jeff Kunerth can be reached at jkunerth@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5392.
Ellie