Picnic lends support for Marine parents
By MICHAEL PETERSON, Argus-Press Staff Writer

Saturday, September 13, 2008 10:41 PM EDT
BYRON - They say everyone needs a shoulder to lean on. In Cindy McCormick's opinion the saying especially applies to parents of Marines.

That is why she organized a picnic at her home for family members of Marines from all over the state of Michigan.

And while it was mainly to honor their loved ones, many family members said it is essential for them to have the support of other families who are in similar circumstances.

This is the second year a picnic has been held for parents of Marines in Michigan and it was put together by McCormick of Byron. She said what truly brought the parents together for this event was the Web site www.marineparents.com.

The site was founded in January 2003 and offers education and support for parents, spouses, family and friends of United Stated Marines.

McCormick first started using marineparents.com as a form of support because her youngest son Stephen, 20, will be deployed soon.

“There so much information on here, too,” McCormick said. “Once (my son) got closer to graduation we could see pictures of them on here...I mean, that's pretty much the only contact you will have with your kid when they are in bootcamp.”

But for McCormick the draw of the Web site isn't necessarily the information, it is to connect with people who truly know what she is going through.

“You may be talking to some people and they may be sympathetic to you, but they may not really know what it's like,” McCormick said. “But someone who has or is going through it empathizes with you instead of just sympathizing. That is how these bonds are formed.”

Unfortunately, the weather and recent increase of gas prices caused many of the people planning on coming to cancel. McCormick said she was planning on having 50 Marine parents from across the state, but the weather cut the number in half.

Also, instead of holding the event outside, it had to be moved into McCormick's garage. There was table in the corner of the garage the parents could place photos, certificates, letters or other items to commemorate their child or children serving in the Marines.

“There is a certain amount of pride that comes with having a military kid,” McCormick said. “It seems to be like almost a calling for people.”

Sheila and Dave Stone, of Owosso, attended the picnic for the first time. Their son-in-law Jordan Catrell, 24, was deployed July 27 and will be serving in Iraq for six months. They did know McCormick before they had family members join the Marines.

Sheila Stone said - in her opinion - it is the mothers who use and need the support groups the most.

“It's rough on the whole family, but there is just something about mothers where we always have to know what's going on,” Stone said. “We've been their caretakers their whole life, so you build a special type of connection.”

People attending the picnic wore name tags that had both their real names and their marineparents.com user names, which is how they were able to recognize one another. The majority of the people at the picnic had never met one another until Saturday.

But even the people who had never met before said they felt an instant connection.

“These are people that I feel like I already know,” Karen Lipchik, of Wixom, said while looking around at the other families.

Lipchik's son Justin, 22, is at the Quantico Marine Corps Base in Virginia.

“I got started using the site when I had no one to talk to and no one to discuss what it is like,” Lipchik said. “I found out I wasn't alone at all.”

Renee Bucy, of Clinton Township, has a son, Christopher Champion, who has been deployed for a second time to Iraq. She said a woman she met through the marineparents.com was instrumental in helping her cope with her son's first deployment.

“I couldn't afford to go down and see Christopher come home the first time,” Bucy said while wearing her son's dogtags - which she refuses to take off while he is deployed. “I was on the forums every night and I watched these women talk back and forth as the homecoming came closer about how they would be baking cookies or making banners to hang on the fence...I got on there and I said, ‘Please, if anybody could help me. I will pay anyone if someone could make me a welcoming sign because I can't be there to see him get off the ship.'”

Within a day, Bucy was contacted by a woman who's husband was in the same unit as her son and she offered to make a banner.

“I didn't even know her and that's what she did for me. From that point on, I have been friends with her and I still talk to her every night,” Bucy said. “And that's what this is all about. We are all family.”

Ellie