Be

Kiss your loved one, now.

Kiss all of them.  Find them, now.  Kiss them, hug them, tell them you love them.  If they laugh at your silliness, laugh with them and tell them you don't know what came over you. 

Read a book.  Read two.  Today. 

Feel the sun.  Lay in the grass and appreciate the air around you, cool and soft and constantly moving.  Pick a flower and give it to someone.  Pick another and put it behind your ear.  Forget it's there. 

Don't argue.  Don't complain.  Don't hurt. 

Take your kids out somewhere they always ask to go and when you get there, take pictures.  If you don't have kids, call your niece, your nephew, your little brother or sister.  Do something nice for them. 

Donate.  Adopt a pet.  Adopt a classroom.  Adopt a new way of seeing things. 


Write, even if you're terrible at it. 

Find a cause.  Live for it, fight for it, be loyal to it.  Write your congressmember.  Tell him if he can't stand for you, you'll find someone who can.  Realize that's only possible through you.  Buy a pitchfork and light torches.  Storm something.


Educate yourself.  Don't be stupid.  If you follow, follow someone worthy of you.  If you lead, make yourself worthy.  Don't just stand there. 

Find a job.  Find a hobby.  Find Waldo. (finally)

Do a puzzle.  Do a crossword.  Give up halfway through but feel good for trying.  Frame your puzzle. 

Always be aware you're alive.  (at least)

Walk somewhere.  Run somewhere.  Hop on one foot down a hill.  Thank the paramedic.  Don't call him an "ambulance driver".  Make a crossword on your cast but only finish it halfway.  Feel good for trying. 

Organize.  Recycle.  Clean your fingernails.

Make something. 

Listen to music you hate.  Listen to music you love.  Compare the differences. 


Be strong, be fair, be loud.  Do something you're afraid of.  Teach someone else how to do it.  Don't miss out.  Ride a bike with someone.  Take pictures. 

Make your own jerky.

Appreciate trees. 

Think about the universe.  Find a constellation.  Find God. (if you want)


Never pour salt on a snail.  Never say never. 

Write a stream of consciousness.  Don't run out of things to say.

Honor

      I received a letter today from my father.  When I created this blog, I had decided not to post letters from friends and family because I didn't want to reveal what was meant only between myself and my loved ones, but I couldn't stop myself from allowing this one to be read.  It's message is profound and it makes me think of a time far removed, when I might have been reading words from home hunched over in a cold rain, my rifle leaning heavily against a tree as I eyed the treeline between sentences, waiting for the first skirmish line of grey uniforms to appear like ghosts in the gathering gloom. 

Zeb:
     I think about you often.  I think about where you are and what you are experiencing and I realize that in many ways it will change you forever.  Not necessarily in any visible way, but profoundly change the way you view things.  I hope this is not coming across too dramatic or philosophical but it brought to my mind an excerpt from a Bruce Cotton book.  His trilogy on the Army of the Potomac, is is from the preface to the first book, Mr. Lincoln's Army.  It is, in my opinion, one of the best and moving of all of the collections of words that anyone has ever written. 

    "The books which make up this trilogy began, very simply, as an attempt to understand the men who fought in the Army of the Potomac.  As a small boy I had known a number of these men in their old age, they were grave, dignified and thoughtful, with big white beards and a general air of being pillars of the community.  They lived in rural Michigan in the pre-automobile age and, for the most part, they had never been fifty miles away from the farm or dusty village streets; yet once, ages ago, they had been everywhere and had seen everything and nothing had happened to them thereafter that meant anything much.  All that was real had taken place when they were young, everything after that had simply been a process of waiting for death, which did not frighten them much.  They had seen it inflicted in the worst possible way on boys who had not bargained for it, and they had enough of the old-fashioned religion to believe without any question that when they passed over they would simply be rejoining men and ways of living which they had known long ago."
     I love you and long for your safe return.


                                                                             Papa

     When I visited Washington, DC before I left for basic training, one of my favorite monuments in the entire city was the one erected in memory of the Grand Army of the Republic, which I thought sounded like something from a world so different from ours as to be almost made up.  One of the ways we as a society should be judged is in how we honor those who came before us, showing us the right and the good.

Mountain Dew

To a 95th Route Clearance company soldier, This is an 8th grade middle schooler.  I go to ------ Middle School.  I have recently moved from -------, Fl to -------, Fl.  I am 14 years old.  I'm a very swell dude.  Some of my hobbies are reading, writing and arithmatich's, I also like to play a nice, yet clean game of b-ball occasionally.

(roflsshmarnfoomhasotcaihtciuwav)

(rolling on the floor laughing so super hard my ramen noodles fell out of my hands and spilled on the carpet and I had to clean it up with a vacuum)

Hop on my bandwagon, bro.  Do you Mountain Dew?

Sincearly, Gavin. 

McRib

Dear Soldier,

Hi!  My name is Brynna!  I'm writing this letter in my 8th grade (gifted) US History class.  My teacher said to tell you about some current events that I find interesting. :)  The Steelers are 6-3 in the season right now, if you like football.  My favorite joke right now is "What's green and has wheels?" (answer's on the bottom)  It's an anti-joke, it's all the rage in middle school!  Do you like to run?  I do.  I'm on cross-country and track.  I know you are an engineering sapper unit.  I am taking an engineering class but we probably don't do any of the same things.  I'm super excited that Breaking Dawn Part 1 is coming out!  I don't know if you heard but Kim Kardashian got divorced.  72 days, 20 million dollar ring, 10 million dollar wedding, wow!  Do you like dogs?  I do.  I have 4.  The McRibis back at McDonalds, I don't know if you care but I just saw a commercial for it.  Did you know swallowed gum doesn't really take 7 years to digest, only 24 hours.  The most shoplifted item is cheese!  Weird, right?  Today, Veteran's Day!  Well late Veteran's day because I'm writing it today on 11/11/11 which is supposed to be the luckiest day of our centurie, err... millenium.  I'm watching that show on MTV where the parents don't like the girlfriend so they try to find their son another one.....  It seems kinda fake because of the "real videos" they have. 

I really appreciate what you do for our country!  I'm glad that there are people out there like you who are so kind and heroic!

Sincerely,
    Brynna


(The iPhone 4 came out and I want it but ya know, expensive.)


answer(to anti-joke) - grass, I lied about the wheels.  






My brain stopped working after the word McRib. 
I'm off to cry into my pillow.

Red Paint

Dear Soldier,

I'm an 8th grader who lives in Orlando, Florida.  I'm 13 years old.  I really appreciate what you do for our country.  Most of the time, I don't really think about other people's problems, because I'm so caught up in my own.  But, your selfless serving really makes me think.  My family, friends and my safety is much bigger than who has nice clothes and what people may look like, or something petty like that.  I just wanted you to know that your hard work does not go without recognition. 

So, enough about that.  Recently, there's been all of this "invading wall street" stuff.  I don't quite understand it, but I know that a bunch of people have the tents up and camping out in NYC.  There's also all this talk about the 99%.  My parents say that we are a part of that 99% and I kind of understand why they are protesting.  There's a group of people walking all the way from NYC to Washington, DC.  They will get there in about two weeks. 

Recently, Paranormal Activity 3 came out, I didn't see it, but all of my friends told me about it.  And, even them telling me about the demons in the movie keeps me up all night.  That's why my mom's been giving Nyquil lately, but I don't tell her why.  Modern Warfare 3 just came out.  I don't play those types of games, but I'm sure you do.  Twilight's new movie, Breaking Dawn is coming out soon.

I like to dance after school.  I dance in competitions, and most of the time I do pretty well.  My dance teacher can be really mean though.  And, she acts like a kid.

I have some jokes:
What's brown and sticky?
    A stick.
A dsylexic man walks into a bra.

What's red and smells like blue paint?
    Red paint.

From,
    Taylor.

PS  Those jokes are anti-jokes and are not meant to be funny, which makes them funny.

Myself and the other medics are now known throughout the company for using "the stupidest jokes I've ever heard."

Thanks, Taylor.

Kim Kardashian

A few days before Christmas, our company received two (or was it three?) huge boxes from Florida.  They were filled with individually wrapped little care packages, each one with Rice Krispy treats, Slim Jims, candies and other assorted little goodies.  The boxes, along with about a dozen other boxes sent from all corners of the US for the holidays, were put in our company aid station where myself and my other medic buddies dove into them face first.  I quickly realized that each individual package in the three (or was it two?) huge boxes had little handwritten letters inside written by members of a certain History teacher's 8th grade classes.  They were all gracious and intelligent and, most of all, hilarious.  I'm going to try to write some of them back and will definitely be writing Mrs. Dehlinger, at the very least, if only to let her know she has the most entertaining group of teenagers I've ever heard of.

This one was the first one I read and, coincidentally, my favorite:

Dear Soldier,
    Hi, my name is Bethany and I'm an 8th grader at ------ Middle School.  In honor of Veteran's Day, my class and I are writing letters to soldiers in the 95th Route Clearance and randomly putting them into care packages(Jackpot!!!), so

CONGRATULATIONS!

You're one of the lucky winners!  I will expect you at my chocolate factory at strictly 9 o' clock.  Please bring the endorsed golden ticket, or else you will not be permitted.  (Kidding)


I'm just kidding! Thank you so much for what you do - risking your life every day to protect our country!  You are a true hero.  Since you've been gone, I thought you may want to know some of the major events that have happened in the past few months:


May:
         Osama Bin Laden is killed during an American military operation in Pakistan.
June:
         1) Chile's Puyche volcano erupts
         2) Thousands of Syrians flee to Turkey as Syrian troops lay siege to Jisr and Shugur.
July:
         1) The world's first artificial organ transplant is achieved.
         2) South Sudan secedes from Sudan.
         3) 76 die in twin terrorist attacks in Norway.
August:
         1) Kim Kardashian marries Kris Humphries.
September:
          After 434 dead, the United Nations launches $357 million appeal for victims of the 2011 Sindh floods in Pakistan.
October:
          1) Former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is killed.
          2) 7.2 earthquake kills over 800 in Turkey
          3) Global population reaches 7 billion.
          4) Kim Kardashian divorces Kris Humphries (C'mon, we all knew it was going to happen sooner or later!)


5 things that lasted longer than Kim Kardashian's marriage.
           1) The average lifespan of a dragonfly.
           2) The pause after Dora the Explorer asks the audience a question.
           3) Michelle's part in Destiny's Child's song.
           4) Taylor Swift's speech before Kanye took the mic.
           5) Dumbledore's beard. 


Thank you!  Sincerely,
Bethany ---------

Luck

No Soldier, Sailor, Airman or Marine I've ever talked to, past or present, has ever gone into a hostile area without carrying with him a reminder of home and all that he fights for.  We carry terrible weaponry and wear layers of heavy armor, but what really protects us from the constant stresses of war are the little things.  We bring them out in the lulls, when we need to breathe, to remember the shield-wall at our backs, holding us up and giving us the mental advantage we need to come through hell and back.

Warriors have sent letters home for millenia.  Scribbling a note on parchment, paper or keyboard and sending it off before the next blast from the trumpets of battle.  The letters which make it back, finding him on the march or in the foxhole, are the things which he holds dearest to his heart. 

From family, friends or even strangers with a little time on their hands and graciousness in their hearts, we gather these letters from the homefront.  This blog is a collection of letters I've collected and will continue to collect in the next year, a year I'm spending with my brothers in the 95th Sapper Company, Afghanistan.