LEWISTON – For Diane Vaillancourt Tarr, the mother of a Maine guardsman, the calendar froze on Christmas.
A lit tree still sits behind her living room window, alongside a Currier & Ives-style miniature snowy village and an intricate creche. On her kitchen counter sits a bright red poinsettia. And in another room lie wrapped packages, all for her son, Spc. Greg Vaillancourt.
“We were together for every one of his 27 Christmases,” Tarr said.
But this Christmas, her son was in Iraq, part of the 133rd Engineer Battalion of the Maine Army National Guard.
On Saturday, however, that all changes. Vaillancourt will be here with his son Trent, and his wife, Amy. Finally, he’ll open his presents and they’ll celebrate Christmas together.
“It’s hard to explain in words,” Diane said. “You miss him so much.”
It’s an experience the family has faced before.
In World War II, Diane’s grandmother held up Christmas for her son, Henry Gilbert. The young Marine was part of the Battle of Iwo Jima.
Shortly after the battle, Gilbert received a leave from the Marines and celebrated “Christmas in March,” as a Lewiston Daily Sun headline announced.
“It’s been 60 years to the month,” said Clyde Tarr, Greg’s stepfather.
Her grandmother Adele’s story is where Diane got the idea to delay Christmas for her son. And it’s not just the presents.
Her home is decorated with crucifixes. Rosary beads hang in her living room.
“There is no way we could get by without our faith,” she said.
It’s important to her son, too.
Greg still wears a rosary ring she gave him for his birthday. After landing at Fort Drum, N.Y., where the unit arrived a week ago, Greg wore the ring beside his wedding band.
During his time in Iraq, he learned to rely on his faith more, Diane said. Meanwhile, she prayed for his safety and worried whenever news arose of his unit, such as the bombing of a Mosul mess tent.
That happened four days before Christmas.
Diane’s large Catholic family still gathered for the holiday, still attended a midnight Mass conducted by her brother, the Rev. Bob Vaillancourt, and still exchanged presents.
“I had a hard time going to church without crying,” she said.
“We still celebrated for the little ones in the family, but it was very hard.”
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The schedule for the return of the Maine Army National Guard’s Company C continues to be uncertain. The soldiers, from armories in Norway and Lewiston, are expected to arrive at Lewiston High School on Friday, sometime between 5 and 7 p.m. Their route into Lewiston and a more specific arrival time will be announced Thursday.
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