GRAND RAPIDS -- As the holidays neared, DeDe Stancell placed a snowman figurine wearing an Army uniform on a shelf next to her Christmas tree.
The momento in a small way helps the Grand Rapids woman and her family endure the holidays without her Iraq-deployed son.
"I told my grandkids that represents Gary," she said. "Every day he is on my mind."
Stancell is among dozens of local families trying to cope as their loved ones serve in the military in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.
"It is very hard during the holidays," she said. "This deployment is much safer than his first deployment, but he's still in a combat zone and anything can happen."
Her son, 33-year-old Gary Stancell, is an Army sniper located just south of Baghdad on a year-long deployment that started in October. His first deployment was about two years ago.
As the mother of a serviceman, DeDe Stancell considers herself lucky for her almost daily communication with her son. He has a laptop donated through Hastings Mutual Insurance and can talk via webcam with family members.
"In talking to other parents, they might go a week or two weeks without having any contact," she said.
The laptop and Internet have proven invaluable technology for Gary Stancell and his wife, Liz. They are the parents of a 7-month-old baby.
"(Gary) can watch her eat. She's just starting to crawl, too," the soldier's mother said.
Dee Dee Stancell planned to use the webcam when her son's older boys, ages 10 and 11, visited her house on Christmas Day.
"We are going to have it going when they open presents," she said.
For 25-year-old Betsy VanKlompenberg, family and friends offer critical support as her husband, Army Sgt. Keith VanKlompenberg, is in the midst of a tour in Iraq that ends in May. He writes for a military publication at Joint Base Balad north of Baghdad.
"He gets pretty regular access to a phone and the Internet, so we send a lot of e-mails back and forth," said VanKlompemberg, of Grand Rapids. "We know some of the people, they live in tents and they don't get to call home. If it was that situation, that would be horrible."
The couple, both former Grand Valley State University students, were married three years ago this month.
She sends him care packages with his favorite things, like Gummi bears, Little Debbie snack cakes and Combos snacks.
"I just sent him a big bag of goodies," she said. "It's the little random stuff that I know he misses."
Classes of local students, including one at National Heritage Academy where Betsy VanKlompenberg is friends with a teacher, recently sent her husband Christmas cards.
"It's been really sweet," she said.
Especially this time of year, she tries not to dwell on her husband being away.
"I just try to wake up and take it one day at a time. The less I think about it, the faster it's going to go," she said.
At the West Michigan Military Family Support Group, Rena Guttrich of Kentwood helps send miniature Christmas trees and pillows to soldiers overseas. She knows the stress military families go through this time of year.
Her son, 34-year-old Bruce Guttrich, is an Army medic who was in Iraq during Christmas two years ago.
"It's really tough. You worry about their morale at a time like this," she said. "It's hard for them, being away from family."
Guttrich kept her Christmas tree up until March, until her son arrived home, then opened presents.
She knows the holidays are probably more difficult for the soldiers than their families.
"You realize they not really celebrating (Christmas). They're going on calls, bombs are going off and they are still going on patrols," she said.
E-mail John Tunison: jtunison@grpress.com