“Thank you for serving our country.”
I know and appreciate that people often say that when they meet a soldier. But for me, when standing face-to-face with someone who has committed their life to protect my own, those words feel so insignificant as if I were thanking them for putting away their laundry or eating all their vegetables. I can never seem to fully articulate my humble appreciation for such a selfless act of service to millions of nameless, faceless people. But then again, sometimes just saying ‘thank you’ is enough.
My husband and I became close friends with a Marine and his young family nearly four years ago. Having already served two tours in the Middle East, Captain Montero was stationed stateside for a couple of years in the DFW area before moving on to his next post. It was during this time that our friendship took root and we were hit head-on with realities of a military family balancing marriage, parenting and the impending deployment to a war-torn country. Our friend has been back in Afghanistan for a couple of months now and will hopefully be returning to his family’s current home in Camp Lejeune by Christmas. We miss them terribly and decided to send Captain Montero a care package just to say ‘hey’.
As I was sharing my plan with Megan and asking for some fun ideas of what to include, the idea evolved to three care packages and an office full of eager participants. Our ‘thank you’ got a little broader when our designer Molly told us about her brother serving in Singapore, and we decided that Marine Corporal McGrath should get one of our care packages, as well.
We shopped for items that we felt would bring Captain Montero and Corporal McGrath and their fellow troops some much-deserved comfort. It took some VERY strategic packing to cram as many goodies as we could into those teeny-weeny flat rate boxes, but we triumphed and are very excited to share our sugar-filled gratitude with soldiers abroad.
To those who have served our country or are currently serving and to those family members waiting patiently to hug their loved ones again…THANK YOU from the bottom of every DMA heart!
Posted by The Analyst (Marci Allen)
