9/28/14
Grandma Connie sent a message to the KCCI television station about Jayden’s
Stars for Troops. The Honor flight was coming up and they thought it would tie
in to the story well. Jayden and Grandma put together 400 stars for the Honor
Flight Veterans. Recently Eric from KCCI called and talked to Jadyen over the
phone. He asked her tons of questions about it. At the end he aksed ,"would it be
ok to come out and interview you in a week." Jayden told him yes, but as soon
as she got off the phone she told me she wanted to say no, but didn’t know how
to tell him. For the next 4 days, she fretted over it and continually told me
she did not want to do this. She said she felt like Dad and I were making her.
I also think she felt like Grandma lined the interview up so it didn't feel as special. She also felt like it was never her project, or her idea, it was more
something that she was just helping with. It has been an amazing project and I am glad Grandma has helped her with it. After prayer and thought, I decided to put
it all in Jayden’s hand so she did not feel like she was guilted into it or
forced. I told her if she really did not want to do the television interview,
she had to call the TV man and tell him in person. I honestly did not think she
would do it. As soon as I told her, she asked for the phone and called him.
That was bold and told me how much she did not want to be on tv. It is kind of
crazy as most of the rest of the world would do anything to be on tv. That burden was off Jayden’s shoulders and
she was much happier.
Still, she was also invited to the Honor flight dinner at
Prairie Meadows. Mawgee said she would gladly go along as Jayden’s guest, and Mawgee
brought a guest too? her cousin Pat. Jayden was more than happy to go on this very special
night with Grandma. They got to Prairie Meadows and lined the halls holding
flags as all the Veterans came in. They sat at round tables and ate a delicious
meal. Because Jayden made stars for all the men, they had her stand up and
recognized her, thanked her, and clapped for her. I think she really enjoyed
going. For a young teenager to honor and appreciate the Veteran’s is very neat
to these older men to know someone of her age cares. It also puts a different
level of appreciation for the Veterans to Jayden. The Honor Flight would leave
the next morning at 5AM, take the men to Washington DC and back home by
midnight. Later Jadyen received numerous thank you notes in the mail from many of the veterans.
Jayden went back home with Mawgee and stayed two nights, played checkers and ate pizza with Alice and Grandpa, spent
one full day shopping and got a pedicure done with Grandma. She was overdue for some Grandparent time with them.
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