Matt Maupin: A Final Farewell

April 9, 2004 the news came that Matt Maupin had been taking captive.  I still remember that first glimpse of the Maupin Family, you could see their strength even in those early days.  They held out hope Matt would come home, and today he did.  Matt’s father, Keith Maupin, said he would not allow Matt to be left behind in Iraq and today Matt came home.

You can read all about Matt and his family here.  I have two teenagers and I can not imagine either of them being in Iraq.  The Maupins motto, “Love never loses it’s way home.” was clear today as Clermont County showed them that they love them and that Matt is our hero. 

At one point the cameras showed Carolyn Maupin waving from the limo to the crowds of people and it just made me wonder not where she gets her strength (the Maupins are Christians and have been vocal about getting their strength from God above) but wondering what has she done in the past four years to keep that strength.  I may have to go Yellow Ribbon Support Center and meet this classy lady and ask her that myself.

For some reason my pictures keep changing..so if the captions don’t make sense..sorry.

I love this picture!  The man at the left saluting Matt is his little brother Micah, who re-enlisted on the anniversary of Matt being taken captive.  Micah escorted his big brother home today!

We have had a lot of news coverage about this today in Cincinnati and then I saw it on the world news a little while ago.  I realized today I take my freedom for granted.  I have done so little for the men and women fighting every day to protect all of us.  I am ashamed and am vowing today to change what I do for the troops.  I have been so sad today and have thought of Matt’s mom so many times, but then it hit me how many other moms have felt the pain that she is felling today and how many more will feel this heartache in the months or years to come.