Until Jesse Comes Home

Just the other day Sabrina mentioned to me that every day she was wearing a wrist band for Jesse, to remind her to pray for him, his platoon, and his family, until he comes home. I love that she is doing this! I wanted to do something too, but I'm not very good at wearing something around my wrist, so I was wondering about the yellow ribbon thing . . . I looked it up on the Internet to see if folk are still doing that sort of thing and if it is still displayed as a sign of loyalty to a family member away in the military, or to welcome them home.
I found out that people are still doing this, along with a lot of other nice stuff. And I wondered who started this yellow ribbon tradition. Well, it seems that it is debatable! Some folk say it goes way back to Civil War years. Others say it is from a classic 1949 movie starring John Wayne, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon" where the female lead wore a yellow ribbon to signify her undying love for a cavalry officer.

I do remember yellow ribbons during the hostage crisis in Iran in 1980 -- most of you guys were not quite born (or just barely). Penne Laingen tied a huge yellow ribbon around a tree in her yard. Her husband, Bruce Laingen, was one of the hostages at the American Embassy in Iran. After that, the idea really took off, and people began attaching yellow ribbons to just about anything.

Today I bought some yellow ribbon, fashioned a bow (pathetic as it is), and tied it to our tree out front. Until I can figure out how to make a better one, or until Jesse returns home, it is going to stay just exactly the way it is!

(Picture taken at a special Army banquet/ball
shortly after Jesse brought his family to Ft. Bliss)

With love for you, Jesse and Diana
Emma, Christopher & Matthew