A Citizenship Win-Win

Today I'm excited because I had the best day yesterday!

Our forty packages to the soldiers have arrived.

Here's a picture from Qatar; my friend Laura, whose son-in-law received the boxes there, calls it a "hug from home."

This batch of letters stayed Stateside

and made this soldier's week!

Yesterday we got to watch as these servicemen

opened their boxes from their base across the ocean.

One of them is on his eighth (8th!) deployment.

The other was in his first month with eleven to go.

Away from home. From family and friends.

For birthdays. And holidays.

Martin Luther King Day.

Valentine's Day.
St. Patrick's Day.

Easter.

Memorial Day.

Mothers' and Father's Day.

Independence Day.

Back to school time.

Labor Day.

Halloween.

Thanksgiving.

Can you imagine?

So we sent them some holiday cheer.

And they returned the favor by opening the boxes

in front of the 968 students who salute, thank, and appreciate them.

They were kind enough to give us permission 

to share our special Skype session with you.

And afterward, we got these gracious gifts from abroad:

Thank you – you made my day!!

Please reiterate to the children how much their support means to us.  When times get tough and the days get long, it is packages like these that make us smile and remind us what it’s all about.

Warm regards

You have no idea how much we were blessed. We were both pretty moved with the pledge and the moment of silence. We were extremely impressed with how disciplined and courteous the children were as well….and that is a testimony to the work you and the staff there are doing.

Again, thank you, your community, the school administration and teachers, and the students for all you did. It really motivated us and provided us an often needed reminder of why we are out here and what those of us who wear the cloth of our Nation signed up to do. It also reminded us that we are not forgotten…

PS. Please pass our thanks to all the parents who sent homemade treats. Honestly, we don’t get homemade treats in the boxes very often---so that was an unexpected bonus! Also, please thank the Friendswood Rotary Club for paying the postage for it to get here as well. I know the boxes are not cheap, so please pass on our thanks to them as well.

Seriously, they ended up thanking us.

Can you imagine?