Lansing #1

Even though Eyes Wide Open was only in Lansing for a day, there are too many stories for just one post.

The core planning group and 124+ volunteers were well-organized, thought of all the right details and were able to attract several military families to the memorial.

One of the first planning meetings they held was at a Middle Eastern restaurant. About a dozen of them gathered over dinner, discussing the memorial, its purpose and how they wanted the tone of the day (solemn) to be.

When they were almost finished, the waiter came up to their table and told them that the man who had just left paid for all of their meals. Such was the generosity of spirit that carried the day.

Pat Dartt arose at 4am Thursday morning in order to arrive early at work, so she could leave her office in Adrian, Michigan and make it to the memorial by late afternoon. Dartt took mementoes of her late son, Bradley Fox, who was injured March 13 in Baghdad when he was struck by shrapnel from a roadside bomb. He died from his injuries on April 20 in the Army hospital at Landstuhl, Germany. He leaves behind a wife, Sabine; sons Jan, 11, and Lucas, 8; and daughter Alexis, 3.

She wept as she placed pictures on his boots, including a lengthy testimonial to her son from a Major. When she went home, she could not sleep. She ended up being awake for 30 straight hours. More of her story...