LEWES, Del.- Being an army mom has been hard at times for Heidi Grinder after her son Spencer left for basic training in September.
He graduated from Cape Henlopen High School in June and soon after decided to enlist. Heidi has not been able to talk to him much since he left, but she was able to reach him Sunday afternoon. He is feeling motivated after three months of training.
"Definitely excited for what’s to come," Grinder said. "It’s definitely a goal that I feel proud of that I achieved."
In order to raise her own spirits, Heidi bought a white Christmas tree and it holds flags with the names of recruits in Spencer’s class. She reached out to their families through Facebook.
"It ended up getting over one thousand comments," Grinder said. "So, as I was getting the names in, I had to keep buying flags and just writing them on and putting them on the tree.:
This turned into a chance to take anxiety and flip that to positivity. Grinder has since started a second tree with names of veterans and hopes it will fill up. She is building a community of military families who support their loved ones and the sacrifices they make.
"It's honoring them and letting them know we are with you even though you are not here," Grinder said. "It’s huge and I think it makes a big difference for them."
If you would like to honor a veteran with a flag on the tree, you can email flagsforsoldiers@gmail.com.