August 13, 2007
Just So You Know....
Since I pushed so hard for y'all to adopt a soldier, I thought it only right that I keep you posted on how I'm doing with the Warrior I've taken under my wing.
It's been pretty easy, if you want to know the truth. I keep tellin' y'all that I write like I talk, and that goes for letters as well as blog entries. I manage a 2 page note every week and have sent, so far two packages.
The first one was kind of fun. Since I sent it on the weekend of my birthday, I made it a Birthday Party in a Box. Hey. I like themes, what can I say... Now, I couldn't do everything I WANTED to do with that package, but I think it was alright. I purchased one of those flat rate boxes from the post office and then crammed as much in there as I could. A big package of Oreo's, some other cookies - cause what's a party without food, for cryin' out loud...add in about 4 different flavors of chewing gum (no reason for that, other than I thought he might appreciate it.) Some other snack cakes. I did buy about 10 different kinds of magazines, from huntin' to motorcycle, to hot rod, to Maxum, I tried to cover just about everything. What really made it "a package from me" were the bags of water balloons. Kinda weird to think about sending something like that to a Soldier in a War Zone, but I figured it's hotter than three hells over there and they might enjoy having a decent water balloon fight.....
A couple of weeks later I checked over at Soldiers Angels and found a great Pre-Packaged package that was just perfect. And they made it so easy....it had a bunch of snacks along with a cool scarf and a sand scarf. Oh, and a phone card. Perfect. For less than $20 I had a nice little somethin' sent off.
Now.....I will admit it does start to get a little challenging. They warned us from the get-go that we may not hear from our Soldier. And being a blogger, I figured it was pretty easy to just write, without hearing back. Well, it get's kind of tough.
I don't want to bore him. I want him to look forward to the packages and mail. But.....I don't know anything about him. I don't know if he's married with children. Where he comes from. What food he likes. Hell, what football teams he follows! Or even, gasp, if he likes football!!!!
Speaking of which - the next package theme? Yeah, it's all about the football!!! I'm actually going to do that one in two phases. The first will center around Pro Ball. The second college. I did warn him, that I'm a huge Bucs fan and that my college team of choice are the Fighting Irish. Gee.....I hope he likes red and green!!
Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know, that while adopting a Soldier has it's challenges, it's also the best feeling knowing that someone is looking forward to what you are sending next. I'm making someones day.
There are still many opportunities to help. Just click HERE to adopt a Soldier. It's easy. And it's one of those rare things in life you'll never regret doing.
Posted by Tammi at August 13, 2007 07:16 AM | TrackBackI will keep my fingers crossed that your soldier is like my "first born". He was great - we wrote back ad forth quite a bit, and it helped me to keep the commitment. We are still in touch, and I am just to glad that he was my first SA adoptee.
Since then, have had the range. I have had some I have never heard back from, but that is OK. Just keep writing and sending. Then you meet some soldiers in the airport and hand out SA cards and talk about SA. One of them says - "one of my buddies is adopted through SA, and it has been great! We have set up a locker with the goodies to share." Just one of these conversations, an e-mail or talking to a vet helps reinforce the importance and value of the effort.