ur second delivery on the East Coast Tour was to the family of Air Force Staff Sergeant Peter Taub. Peter had previously been nominated for our Patriotic Pony program when we realized he left behind two beautiful little girls so, we naturally added him to the list for tribute rockers. Peter was one of six killed and several injured by a suicide motorcycle rider in Afghanistan on 12/21/15. We were in awe of all the lives Peter had touched, because no matter where we traveled across the country, friends and co-workers sought us out to tell us wonderful stories of Peter’s life.
To date all the memorial rockers we had done were vehicles; police cars, fire trucks, humvee and helicopters with the exception of one boxer.
Peter’s wife Christina asked for rockers that reflected Peter’s favorite things. His favorite animal – polar bears, favorite hobbies – reading, fishing, hunting, and his favorite candy – gummy bears.
Designing the polar bear rockers was the easy part, figuring out how to incorporate the rest was the challenge. We settled on the idea of giving each of the polar bears a scarf adorned with his hobbies, which we did with stickers and dangle earrings. The scarves were done in the girls favorite colors pink and purple and then each polar bear had a gummy bear tattoo on their hips in the opposite color of the scarves. So these tribute rockers were made of Pete’s favorite things for his favorite girls!
While mom knew about the rockers, they were going to be a complete surprise for the girls! We arranged to arrive just after the girls returned home from school with an escort from the Patriot Guard Riders. We all met at the local mall and the parade of cars, trucks and motorcycles slowly made our way to their home. It was difficult to fight back the tears when we watched the line of vehicles so eagerly ready to pay tribute to a fallen hero and escort us in the delivery of our precious cargo. We were so thankful for such a big beautiful turnout of appreciation for our fallen, while those who choose to participate in this event reciprocated with thanks to be a part of an event that gave them the opportunity to share smiles and hugs along with tears. We later learned most had also been a part of bringing Peter home.
As we hope these special gifts let the family know how many people care, it is impossible not to feel the love when so many come together to make sure the delivery is so very special! Thank you so very much to all who helped, donated and/or participated! You ROCK!!!!
