Adopting a Soldier

Having reached the number of felines that will co-exist comfortably in the house, I adopted a soldier Monday.

Inspired by a post written by my sister, I went to the website, Soldiers Angels (the link is up above), read the requirements and decided to do it. I'm against the war in Iraq, but I do support our troops. Our brother was in the first Gulf War. It was the first time in my life that I actively watched the news, hoping every day that it'd be over and he'd come home. We were lucky; he came home to us relatively quickly. I can only try to picture what it's like for the families and friends of soldiers over in Iraq now, waiting and wondering when -- or even if -- they'll be coming home.

The requirements are simple: you commit to writing a letter to your soldier once a week and to send at least two care packages a month. I love giving presents and I love writing letters. I hope I don't bore the pants off my soldier.

You may or may not get a letter back from your soldier, so don't go into it with expectations of a steady pen pal. The site also stresses that this is for serious people; not for people looking for a dating service. Heh. Don't worry, kid. You're safe in that regard.

I already sent off a letter and have a care package ready to go. I just have to heft it over to the post office and hope that I filled out the customs form correctly. I hate those things. But I want this package to get there as quickly as possible. It was fun picking stuff out for him (although it would have been easier if I'd gotten a female soldier). cookies, candy, snack bars, beef jerky, books, magazines, pens and writing tablets, tea bags, little mini toiletry items, and two rolls of toilet paper. I'd bake cookie, but I've been told that it takes up to three weeks for packages to reach their recipients, which would make for some stale homemade cookies. Hopefully Trader Joe's brand will be acceptable.

I hope that my soldier writes back, if just to give me a better idea of what he'd like to get in his packages, what he's interested in so I can make my letters more entertaining for him. Actually, I hope that I won't have to send too many packages, just because it'll mean that the troops are finally coming home.