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I have now been repaid!!! Yesterday I received a letter from a Soldier in Iraq! It made my day! I cried when I read it and held the little envelope in my hands. It was dated 26 Nov 04, postmarked by the Army PO on 29 Nov 04 and I received it 07 Dec 04. It WAS A BIG THANK YOU FROM THEIR WHOLE COMPANY for our last huge shipment of stuff. We had sent it in Oct. and like others who posted, I never got a thank you or acknowledgment that it was received. It feels selfish to want a reply but the FUN of sending is realized when you KNOW the person received it. (BTW, on the Customs Form, check "gift" and "return to sender if undeliverable" so you get back any packages that can't be delivered.) We sent so much stuff but the thing they thanked me for was the homemade chocolate chip cookies. I sent 12 dozen. That is the second 12 dozen I have sent.. to two different operation AC "adoptees." Both told me how well the cookies made the trip. One Soldier emailed me that I had some "serious packing skills" because not a single cookie was broken. I triple wrap them... If you want to know how, FReepmail me and I can tell you in excruciating detail. I already wrote a letter back to this Soldier letting him know how we feel about their heroic work. In his letter, he wrote: "Right now we are in Fallujah where it has been pretty rough living conditions but we are tough Soldiers and are making it. We are over here fighting for all of you people who appreciate us and for all of our loved ones back in the States. We would much rather fight in a foreign land than at home around our loved ones." He asked for prayers for them, which he already has. I wrote back and told him how I watched the war and where I was on 9/11 (working in the SEARS TOWER) and gave my email address in case he should get time at a computer. The first Soldier we adopted emailed us weekly. Something that occurred to me while hugging my envelope from Iraq was that maybe they need paper and envelopes. I did not realize they don't have to use postage but we should include envelopes and paper in each package. A Marine I know who served in Viet Nam told me not to worry if I don't get a thank you or acknowledgment from the Soldiers because when a care package comes in, they rip into it and all the stuff is scarfed up within five minutes. They all share. What a wonderful generation...! They are the hope of our future. Not just because they are willing to die for our freedom but because they will come back here, seasoned and sober men, to raise their families with the RIGHT values.
Thank God for our the young men and women in our Military. I wish I could hug them all! That note was good enough for my Christmas.
~SS~