Helpful Tidbits

Hi All

I have noticed many new people leaving comments and have had many send me emails. I thought I would take this opportunity to point out a couple of helpful/useful tidbits of information.

Phone cards: There is a link under the Helpful links for a phone card called spaware. Both of my sons have used them from Iraq. The rates are incredibly reasonable compared to those that are available here in the States. The downside is they only work in that part of the world on a particular type of phone (which they have at Summerall).  However, if I remember correctly, they do not work even in Kuwait. I would recommend checking out the website and then mentioning it to your soldier. I don't think you actually get a card, just a 10 digit pin number to use.

Packages: I am not sure how many know about this so I will let the cat out of the bag. The U.S. Post Office will GIVE you boxes to mail to your loved one. They are known as FLAT RATE BOXES. The postage is the same regardless of how much they weigh...trust me on this one...LOL.  They come in 2 sizes. One slightly smaller than a shoe box, the other is shaped more like a shirt box, just a bit bigger. Most post offices carry at least a small number of these, or you can order them through the U.S. Postal Service website; products and services; priority mail. Sorry for not putting a link here, I could not seem to get it to work. More of that learning the system stuff I guess.

Well that is all I can think of at this moment. I hope every one has a Merry Christmas in spite of the fact that not all the members of your famly will be present. They will be there in their hearts and yours too. Just for your reading pleasure is a poem someone sent me last year. I received another copy of it via email today. I feel certain most of you will understand the sentiment in this poem.

A Different Christmas Poem

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.

My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.

In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.

Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, And I crept to the door just to see who was near.

Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.

Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, "Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!

Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..

To the window that danced with a warm fire's light Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right, I'm out here by choice.

I'm here every

night."

"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, That separates you from the darkest of times.

No one had to ask or beg or implore me, I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.

My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of '

Nam

', And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

I've not seen my own son in more than a while, But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, The red, white, and blue... an American flag.

"I can live through the cold and the being alone, Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.

I can carry the weight of killing another, Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all, To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least, "Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?

It seems all too little for all that you've done, For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, "Just tell us you love us, and never forget.

To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead, To know you remember we fought and we bled.

Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, That we mattered to you as you mattered to us.

WE ALL NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL EVERY NIGHT!

Okay so it is two....LOL! I found the following poem in my documents while searching for the above. Grab a hanky everyone!

The Sands of Christmas

I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,
and looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,
My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.
And so with only minutes till my son got home from school,
I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,
and so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.
I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,
eight hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.
A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens,
Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.
They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.
Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MRE's.
They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.
They didn't have a present even though it was tradition,
the only boxes I could see were labeled "ammunition".
I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
! I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.
There's nothing wrong, my little son, for safe we sleep tonight,
our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,
to worry about the things in life that really mean nothing at all,
Instead of wondering each day if we will be the next to fall.
He looked at me as children do and said it's always right,
to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.
And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,
to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote,

God bless you all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you're not alone.
The gift you give, you share with all, a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty and that we can't repay.

Comments

[Pete Whipple]

Thanks so much for the poems, I am forwarding them to family and friends. BTW, I went to the USPS website and ordered some of the flat rate boxes, along with mailing labels and customs forms. No charge, and they are sent to your address. Don't even have to leave the house! ttfn

[Melissa M.]

Don't bother putting a confirmation on any packages,it is a waste of money and doesn't work.

[louisa cabrera]

thank you for your lovely site. today is my son's 23rd birthday and i ask your continued prayers for not just him, but all who serve like him, all our sons and daughters.

[Jolene Bach]

Thank you for helping keep up the site. If you need assistance, let me know. I do web work. Having a place we can go check out for news/photos of where our loved ones are stationed is important.
Thank you,

Jolene
Proud Sister of a Para-trooper!

[Elizabeth Henry]

Wow! I just found this site tonight. My son emailed me and he is on his way to summerall.The links are great! Please pray for him as I pray for all of them.