We were sitting in a corner booth, happily discussing things of no real consequence to the world around us. I noticed a young family seated at a table close by. The dad had on an army uniform– the same color of the uniforms I see on the news when units are deploying. The kids were full of smiles and yammering to their dad about everything under the sun. The mom looked as if her smile was forced, she was leaning into her husband as if she needed him to help her hold it together.
I continued my meal, paying no more attention to the family until I noticed an older woman approaching their table. She paused next to them and held out her hand to the young soldier. “I just want to say thank you. Thank you for everything you do for me and everyone I know. I want you to have this.” She handed him something then, I don’t know if it was a dollar or a thousand. I think she was paying for their breakfast, but it was the gesture that inspired me. I looked at him too. I noticed his uniform and assumed he might be shipping out. Yet, I wasn’t the one that took the initiative to say thank you.
The older woman left the restaurant and I looked at the young family again. The young mother was openly crying now, her husband was attempting to comfort her. The children were looking at their dad with the brightest, proudest eyes I have ever seen. As well they should, he is not only their hero but ours as well. He kept his arm around his wife for the remainder of the meal. The young boys tried to cheer her up by smiling and joking with her, already trying to fill a void that their dad’s absence will create.
This is not a family I saw on television or read about on the news. This family was right here in the Pee Dee, people that you may know. It is not a love story about strangers, it is a love story about our neighbors.
Have you said thank you to a soldier lately?
To any and all members of the armed forces that read the Flossip, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I know many of our service members are headed to Haiti, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other points around the globe. Thank you for all that you do. If there is ever any problem that you think I may be able to facilitate help with, please email me at theflossipATgmail.com
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Hey Ms. Flossip. I just wanted to let you know that we make cards for Operation Write Home. These are cards that are handmade & sent to the soldiers in war areas so that they have cards to mail back to their loved ones. They can’t walk down to the corner & buy a card to mail home. You can see their web site at http://operationwritehome.org/
We are mainly scrapbookers but we are also card makers. I like to think that in this small way we are giving a soldier and his service family a little bit of joy. Tonight we have a crop at Scrapbook Concepts on 2nd Loop Rd. from 6 to 11. Feel free to join us. Ms. Linn Phillips at Scrapbook Concepts & I am sure she would be happy to give you information. She also has an email list to keep us informed.