A Shout Out To Our Veterans

With it being Veteran's Day today, I thought I'd give a shout-out to our brave men and women in uniform wherever they may be stationed.

A couple of years ago, I came across a website called www.anysoldier.com and was immediately hooked. I was looking for a way to make a difference to so many who willingly place themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe. For the life of me, I still can't remember exactly where we found this information, but it came about when I was talking to my boss about sending stuff overseas to our military members.

The boxes quickly piled up and we filled out the customs forms, etc. and mailed out a ton of stuff on behalf of our company/office at that time. I remember standing in line at Wal-mart and reviewing my list (I was the pick up stuff girl) and a lady standing behind me noticed and asked about what I was doing.

Suppose my excitement attracted a bit of attention because the lady ahead of me listened in too and after she paid for her things, she turned around and handed me a twenty dollar bill and asked me to put it toward our packages. I was so shocked and touched that I teared up immediately and could hardly talk. She even said she wished she had more to give. We made sure to mention that particular occurance in our letters included in the boxes.

After that I couldn't get enough of it, so I started doing small packages here and there on my own. When my boss found out about it he handed me a hundred dollar bill and told me to buy some sweat pants with it (we were supplying a small medical unit because they ran out of gowns and there were soldiers with little to wear except their sheets). I had a constant stash going in my spare bedroom, a mini Wal-mart if you will. My dad got involved too and sent money to help purchase items as needed and to help with the shipping costs.

When we were getting ready to move approximately a year ago, we had to wind down our stash. With my son's trip coming up, that has taken a bit of the priority there. However, as soon as I'm finished paying for the trip I've already decided to get the mailing ramped back up. It takes alot of time, but with my son getting a job soon I should have more time on my hands in the evenings (at least after the play).

Just watch out - it's addictive and might make tears well up in your eyes if you choose to participate on your own. After all, aren't they worth in the least a little bit of sacrifice on our part?