Hello everyone:
This article of Eye on the Hand Dancer is devoted to all of those hand dancers that attended the welcome home from Iraq party that I gave for my son, Captain Marc and his wife Juli. You can also read this article on www.handdancingsource.com on "Eye on the Hand Dancer" webpage. Those special "hand dancers" helped me make this party a success and it is truly appreciated. Thank you all again. Please read the fun that we had and see some of the pictures. The pictures were taken by Nate Isaac. I tried to send quite a few pictures with this article over the internet, but I didn't have enough memory, so I am sending just a few. However, I will have a hard copy of this article with the rest of the pictures on it.
It is tax time and if you need a tax service to help you, please contact www.jacksonhewitt.com. If you need coupons, please let me know. My main office telephone number is 301-352-9400. I am now District Franchise Manager of Jackson Hewitt in Maryland, overseeing two offices in Bowie and one in Lanham. With all of that responsibility, I might not see you until after April 15. However, for my health and some type of peace of mind, I will need to dance and see you.
Lloyd Franklin made me a DVD that tells the story about the party; its colorful and creative, as well as, professional.
The Washington Business Guide, owner Russell Price washinfo1@yahoo.com, is new and improved. Watch out for it coming soon to your surroundings.
Everyone have a blessed "new" year and may all of your dreams come true.
Love,
Marcia
Eye on the Hand Dancer
January 2007
Written by Marcia Diane Foster
This article of Eye on the Hand Dancer will be dedicated to all of those “hand dancers” that attended the welcome home from Iraq party that I gave for my son Marc, who is a Captain in the Marines, and his extraordinary wife, Juli.
Go with me on this journey to see what Marc and Juli experienced on Friday, December 12, 2006.
To set the stage, Marc went over to Iraq on November 2005. He left behind a pregnant wife and a 1½-year-old son, Marc II. Marc jeopardized his life for his country to fight a war that is supposed to be making the US look good. (My opinion.) However, the military and the President, probably see it another way. The Iraq environment Marc was in was not a pretty picture. Then there is Juli, who was pregnant and had to care for herself for the new baby and little Marc II; as well as, take care of the bills, home, send love packages to her husband, communicate to her husband, and wait those long moments for him to call or send her an email. (Marc was able to get some R&R leave in March 2006 to see the birth of his daughter, Jordan.)
Me, I couldn’t breathe. However, my daughter-in-law and I established a strong, beautiful, lasting relationship during this time. I remember when Marc was about 5 years old. He took my cigarettes broke them up, put them in the toilet, and flushed it. I thought he thought we were playing a game. I asked him why he did that and he said, “he saw a film at school and it showed that smoking was bad for you.” What could I do? Sneak and smoke. He always knew how to show love and so does his wife. They both compliment one another and I am very happy that they are soul mates. They also made beautiful children.
Now lets go to the party. It was at the VFW. It was decorated with Christmas ornaments and they put real tablecloths on the tables. “4 UR Eyes Only” (Maxine, Bird, and DJ) decorated the VFW in red and blue. There were big beautiful balloons all around and the tables were creatively decorated. They made an arch of balloons in front of the DJ area that spelled Captain Marc in huge gold letters. The atmosphere was warm, fun, and eloquent.
The first 75-100 guests received a free drink ticket. The buffet was mouth watering as usual and of course the bar was reasonably priced with very pleasant service. The colors of attire were red, navy, red/navy, and all black. Of course, everyone wore what he or she wanted to wear.
Marc and Juli walked in and I watched their expressions. They decided to get lost in the moment, relax, and enjoy every minute of the celebration that was for them. Marc is a Mason Shiver and Juli is an Eastern Star Daughter. They go to “preppy” parties (smile) but they do great things for their communities. But this party was very special to them. Lots of people wanted to meet them. I introduced as many as I could. Some people just went over and met Marc and Juli. So we all ate and drank and danced--socialized.
The party would not have been a party without the “hand dancers”. Most of them were from this end. In my estimation, there were about 150-180 people at the VFW that night. Marc was impressed with the turn out. Bird was the DJ and he was decked out wearing a black suit, black shirt, red vest, and red tie. We danced to the sounds of Disco Bird and everyone seemed to be having lots of fun.
Getting back to the “hand dancers” from this end--thank you so much for taking the time to help me celebrate my son’s RETURN from Iraq. Because of you we had a party, a party that Marc and Juli will never forget nor I. Thank you again. You know who you are. I love you all so very much.
It is time for the program. The MC was Artartus from Philadelphia. He was miraculous, gorgeous, charming, exciting, articulate, professional, had plenty of personality, and 74 years old going on 45. He changed clothes a few times and always looked stunning and wonderful. I gave him the script; he memorized, interviewed, and produced. This MC was GREAT.
I started the program by welcoming and thanking everyone for attending. Rodney Weaver made special remarks to Marc. The remarks were so sincere and deliberate that I felt a little emotional about it. Rodney is such a sweetie. I love him dearly. The next party that I give will probably be a Reception party (smile).
Then Artartus, the MC, took the microphone and addressed and honored Marc, dramatically and exceptionally. Then he told everyone to salute him. (Salute means to clap.) Marc’s heart was so heavy that all he could do was G-R-I-N and W-A-V-E.
Then Artartus said, “Behind every successful man there is a woman”. Then he asked Juli to come up. He honored her, very generously. Then he told the audience to salute her.
I was next and he honored me graciously and told everyone to salute me.
Then he honored Mr. James and Mrs. Rose Butler, Juli’s parents. He told them that children pick up habits from their parents and that Juli must have picked up some very good habits from them. Then he told the audience to salute them.
Then Artartus announced a demo by Brad and BJ. Their dance, to me, was graceful. It almost looked like they were dancing on clouds. At one point, they smiled brightly at one another, and only they knew what that smile meant. I enjoyed the mystic about that. After the dance, Artartus interviewed them. BJ gave a pointer in her style of dance, which I thought was very good to know. Of course, “the Brad” was cool, collected, and charming as ever. Then they got saluted. (I know they are both popular, busy individuals but I am very happy that they could dance at my son’s party. Thank you!)
Then Mr. Randi Payton was recognized for his masterpiece, On Wheels, Inc. projects. He wants to maintain a low image so I had to worry him to death about sharing. The MC was able to get him to share with the audience his involvement in the upcoming awards ceremony. Randi is extremely talented and diversified. By the way, he is a Marine. Then he was saluted.
Now it is time for all of the men and woman who are/were in the military to come forward. I will say about 20-30 were recognized. Artartus really honored them. (Marc was standing up there, also.) It was beautiful to see these fine individuals, with such courage, who put their lives second to the country that they live in or love. They were proud of themselves. We were proud of them. After Artartus honored them he said, “at tent hut” (spelled something like that). You should have seen the response to that. Then the MC said very firmly, “Salute them”!!!!
We recognized adults 30-40 years of age for their accomplishments. There were about 10-15 of them. Then the MC let each of them acknowledge their accomplishment. He also explained to Marc and Juli (who were also standing there), “that your parents feel it is important for you to know that there are other people in your age range that are making accomplishments to their lives, also.” They were saluted.
Markus and Deanna (I apologize if I am not spelling her name correctly.) performed their style of hand dancing. And we all know what that is. Everyone enjoyed it. Artartus interviewed them then motioned everyone to salute them. Thanks Markus and Deanna I cherish the honor of your presence at my son’s party.
Last on the program was a Chicago Steppers demo by Norman and Barbara. Barbara was dressed chic and sophisticated wearing her gloves and boots. Norman was “the man”. Need I say more?
I knew that Marc enjoyed the party very much because he said, “I love you Mom.” I haven’t heard that in a while. It felt so goooooooooooooood.
After the program, we continued to socialize and everyone said goodbye.
Thank you Marc, Juli, Marc II, and Jordan for being my babies.
Thank you Rose for being a wonderful friend and in-law.
To my family Billy, Marquita, Uncle Sonny, Gayle, Fred Jr., Adrian, Angela, Ebony, Linda and your friends thank you. Your presence was admirable.
To my in-laws Rose, James, Jackie’s mother and sister and Beannie’s son. You are cherished.
To all of the Hand Dancers, the VFW, and Bird thank you for helping me to make this the best party that I have ever given. The reason being it is the best because it has true meaning and purpose.
Thanks to Lloyd Franklin, Executive Images, and Nathaniel Isaac, Unique Photo, for their photographic services.
Thanks to Larry Barron for his video services. (However, I don’t understand why I saw him out hand dancing and I don’t have my video, yet (smile).)
Thanks for coming Shirley and Carolyn (from Baltimore).
Thanks to the MC, Artartus, who fulfilled a part of my life that I didn’t know I was missing. I thank him for his experience in entertainment, relating to people, trusting me, and making my party a success. Thank you Mae Campbell for making our introduction possible. You are the coolest Baltimorean woman that I know.
Thanks to my sweet, dearest, lovable, special, and best friend Rodney Weaver. You are always there for me and I love it.
Semper Fi
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