Flat Daddies -- Michael

I'm not sure about this.

Maine National Guard members in Iraq and Afghanistan are never far from the thoughts of their loved ones.

But now, thanks to a popular family-support program, they're even closer.

Welcome to the ``Flat Daddy" and ``Flat Mommy" phenomenon, in which life-size cutouts of deployed service members are given by the Maine National Guard to spouses, children, and relatives back home.

The Flat Daddies ride in cars, sit at the dinner table, visit the dentist, and even are brought to confession, according to their significant others on the home front.

What does Flat Daddy confess?

``I prop him up in a chair, or sometimes put him on the couch and cover him up with a blanket," said Kay Judkins of Caribou, whose husband, Jim, is a minesweeper mechanic in Afghanistan. ``The cat will curl up on the blanket, and it looks kind of weird. I've tricked several people by that. They think he's home again."

He's not home. His wife and kids need the prayers and support of their friends and family, not a piece of cardboard.

This just doesn't sound healthy to me.

Boston Globe - Guard Families Cope in Two Dimensions

Thanks to Unqualified Offerings

posted by Ace at 10:13 PM

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