If you know anything
about me, you know that my love of country comes only after my love of my
Heavenly Father. Independence Day is my favorite holiday. I cry when I hear the
national anthem played. When I see the flag flying, I feel a surge of hope and pride
and determination for all that this unique country represents; I feel like I'm
going to burst.
All of those feelings
come together when I think of our military—these selfless, committed
individuals who have taken the values of God and country and put them into
action to preserve and protect all we hold dear. I am thankful beyond words for
the sacrifices they make so willingly.
Today, a very special
member of the Close To My Heart family is celebrating a wonderful milestone and
achievement: both she and her husband will be retiring from the military
after a combined total of more than 43 years of service! Noreen Petty is many
things—she's a mom to three beautiful children (yes, even those twins are
darling, despite what she may say after a long day!), she's a devoted wife to
John, she's an amazing and energetic Consultant who has served on our Advisory
Board, earned several incentive trips, and garnered accolades for her great
recruiting skills… and on top of all of this, she has served as active Air
Force, including a recent deployment that separated her from her family.
Here are a few photos of
Noreen and her sweet family, along with one of her and Monica together, on our
2011 cruise. Isn't she a lovely person, inside and out?
I admire her service and
sacrifice so much—as well as her ability to fill so many roles with passion and
energy. She represents the very best this country and this company has to
offer, and today, on her retirement day, I want her and every member of our
military to know they have my thanks.
Thank you Noreen, for
all you do. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for your service. Today,
and every day, I salute you.
Thank you to Noreen and her family for all the sacrifices one makes for their service to all of us!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on your retirement…I wish you many more years with Close To My Heart!
Congrats on your husbands retirement! We are also a military family and even though at times our lives are tough from the constant moving, etc. I wouldn't change it for anything! Every move is an adventure and what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger! Best of luck to you and your family!
ReplyDeleteThank you to all the military families, active and retired for all that you have sacrificed for our country and because of you, our world is safe and we have our freedom!
Thank you Noreen!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your retirement.
Enjoy!
Wow! We've been so excited about our joint retirements that we didn't expect to have any tears, but reading this post has brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for the kind words! We truly appreciate them!!
ReplyDeleteNoreen
I am Canadian, but I applaud you both too, Noreen! I was affiliated for 7 years as a parent (grandparent actually) with our local Army Cadet Corps and got to know many military families as a result. The work that both of our militaries do to help protect the innocent and bring about the end of corruption and strife is so huge (sorry, I was having trouble finding the right word and this seemed the best)! Congratulations on a well deserved retirement!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Noreen, and your family, for all that you do for our country. Thank you, Jeanette, for sharing a bit of Noreen with us. God bless the USA!
ReplyDeleteSalute and thank you.
ReplyDeleteNoreen, thanks so much for all you sacrificed for our country! Enjoy this time with your family!
ReplyDeleteComing from a military family, I understand the sacrafices that are made and appreciate all that you and John have done over your many years of service! God Bless you both and I am wishing you a wonderful retirement. Although you are retiring from one career, I know you will as busy as ever with your new venture and I wish you great things with your retreats. Take care and see you soon! :-)
ReplyDelete