Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell's retirement

Once again, Lt. Col. Tim Maxwell's family opened up their arms and hearts to Taylor and had her come down as a special guest for Lt. Col. Maxwell's retirement and to witness Tim and Shannon renew their wedding vows as they start a new chapter in their lives as Tim retired out of the Marines.

Many of you know of Taylor's story in meeting Tim while at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and then him having her come down to Camp Lejeune for a week. If you don't know the story, scroll on down and read up.......wonderful story!

As usual, Taylor and I were made to feel like one of the family and being at the Maxwell house, many guests came in that Taylor got to reconnect with from her Camp Lejeune visit. She was on cloud nine!

She got to spend an afternoon at Officer Candidate School checking it out. Um, kinda funny to watch all these young officers walking around and seeing Taylor in her utilities. She got several nods and

'hey Gunny'. She definitely stood out, but that only made her stand straighter and walk prouder! It was HOT and humid, but our Sgt. was wonderful in taking the time with her and making sure she was comfortable and explaining everything to her.

We got to visit the museum a couple of times and that is where Tim's ceremony actually was as well. At first, I have to say, Taylor was sad that he was retiring out. I think in her heart, she had remembered one conversation he had with her and he told her he would stay in as long as he could and the day he didn't look good in his uniform would be the day he retired out. So, when she got word he was retiring, I know she was thinking WHAT HAPPENED?! But, as you can see in the picture, he still looks mighty fine in his uniform!

Tim will always push for the wounded and he will always give his all to make sure the right thing is being done for his warriors and Taylor knows this.

Taylor got to meet Gen. Amos, the assistant commandant to the Marine Corps. He listened to her story and he gave her such a big hug. He looked around first, then winked and said that it wasn't very often he openly gave hugs out, especially to Gunny's! He thanked her for taking care of his Marines and she told him 'No sir, they are MY Marines!' He gave her another hug!

Another wonderful experience she will cherish forever because of the special friendship she forged with another wounded warrior, one that she looks up to and one that she strives so hard to follow in his footsteps in making sure she does the right thing.