09/17/2026
A love letter to 7,620 heroes, nine unforgettable days on Art Hill and the people who changed my heart forever.
I have started and stopped writing this post more times than I can count.
Writing about myself feels uncomfortable. Writing about my own company feels even harder. For months, I have happily stood behind the emails, graphics, volunteer communications and countless details, making sure everyone else received the recognition they deserved.
But now that the flags have come down from Art Hill, I realize I can’t close this chapter without sharing what it meant to me.
For the past year and a half, I had the extraordinary privilege of working alongside Rick Randall to help bring his vision for the 2026 Flags of Valor Memorial to life. Through The Pencil Haus, I poured my heart into thousands of details: emails, graphics, volunteer communications, website updates, social media, memorabilia, media outreach and so much more.
Each detail may have seemed small on its own, but together, they helped tell the stories of 7,620 heroes killed in action since September 11, 2,977 innocent victims and 412 first responders.
This was never simply a project to me. It became part of me.
It was nine days on Art Hill meeting Gold Star Families, 9/11 survivors, first responders, veterans, volunteers and visitors whose stories I will carry with me forever.
It was the trust of Gold Star Moms Heather Brenna, Michelle Dyer and Chris Andrews, who allowed us to help carry the memories of their children. It was getting to know remarkable people like Beth Bruening and Mark Dunlop. It was watching Bonnie Krueger help hold our enormous volunteer effort together and seeing Lisa Wood return to serve every single day. It was Liz Fedal taking care of special flags with the love of a mother.
And it was Paul Carlock, a man with a mission to ensure we never forget. Paul has been deeply involved in Flags of Valor, and when Rick finally decides it is time to step away, although he swears this was his last year, Paul will help carry this mission into the future. After participating once again in the March to the Arch on September 11, he returned to Art Hill, where he showed up every single day. I love him as a human, and I’m grateful knowing the future of Flags of Valor will one day be entrusted to someone who carries its purpose so deeply in his heart.
It was receiving five challenge coins, beginning with one from Harold, a retired federal agent, followed by coins from St. Louis Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Tracy, St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson, Mark Dunlop, and the Patriot Training Foundation and Greater St. Louis Honor Flight. Each one caught me completely off guard, and each one brought me to tears.
It was watching photographers Jeff Hirsch, Donna Parrone, Ryan Stanley, Bailey Elizabeth Rogers, Ann Aurbach, Kymberlieblu Birkenkamp and Fleet Rand preserve moments that words alone never could.
And none of it would have been possible without my Pencil Haus family. Shelli Alred, Lauren Pitlyk and Stephanie Eichmeyer stood behind me, stepped in during the longest days and gave so generously of themselves whenever Flags of Valor needed more hands. I will never be able to fully express what their support meant to me.
Rick, thank you for trusting me with something so deeply personal to you, your family and thousands of families across our country. I hope you know what that trust has meant to me. Helping carry your vision forward has been one of the greatest honors of my life.
And to every person who volunteered, visited, sponsored a flag, shared a post, answered an email, purchased a keepsake, captured a photograph or simply stood quietly among the flags and remembered, thank you.
I have been part of Flags of Valor for seven years, but this year changed me. I’m humbled and still trying to absorb everything we experienced together. I will never forget the people, the stories, the tears, the embraces or the moments that stopped me in my tracks.
For once, I’m allowing myself to step into the story. Not because it belongs to me, but because being trusted to help tell it has left a permanent mark on my heart.
This is the story behind The Pencil Haus’ involvement and why Flags of Valor will forever be part of mine: https://bit.ly/ThePencilHaus
