Equine therapy is invaluable in helping those with PTSD, and speaking from personal experience, my own horse has been the best therapist for me, especially these past months since we lost Jeremy.  The money raised will help Serenity Stables to support their veteran therapeutic programs and operations . We lose 22 veterans a day  to suicide. It is my sincerest hope that we help to prevent number 23, and in doing so, Jeremy will be  remembered and honored.

Jeremy was always interested in the military from the time he was a little boy. He had those little green military figures that you could buy in a bag and would set them up to have battles. On Memorial Day he watched all the military movies that came on with his plastic army helmet on. When he was about 10 or so we were in the car one day and he told me “Mommy when I grow up I’m going to be a soldier, have a motorcycle and get a tattoo. (He exceeded the count on the tattoos!)

Jeremy joined the Marines in 2003 and was discharged in 2005 due to a knee injury. He then joined the Army in 2008 and was deployed to Iraq in May of 2009. Jeremy was a Staff Sgt at the time of his passing. He was the detachment Sergeant with the 512th Transportation Detachment stationed on St. Thomas USVI.

This past October, someone who Jeremy admired and looked up to posted on his Facebook page that he completed the MCM. I thought ‘wow that’s fantastic!’ and it was as if Jeremy was right next to me because I heard ‘Mom you promised!!’  For the next two weeks the thought wouldn’t get out of my head. So I registered and was lucky enough to secure a spot for this year’s marathon on Sunday 28 October in Washington DC, where I will complete 26.2 miles.

Please help Loretta keep her promise to her son, Jeremy and donate today. You can learn more about their story here.