Well… sort of.
One of my first readers, Karen, became very special to me when I started writing regularly. The reason?
She made me feel like I was doing something good for our county.
Karen is in the Air Guard and over in Afghanistan doing the things that troops do during a war. She works on planes and wrenches most of the day. I was sort of disappointed that she didn’t control predator drones dropping bombs on people she disliked, but whatever.
This was my first armed forces reader, or at least the first that reached out to me.
And you know what?
I decided in my head that I’m helping the troops! Or, one troop at least.
Since I don’t know anyone else in the wars, I decided to send Karen a “Kare-N” package. When I was in college my parents sent a lot of care packages, and I appreciated every one. Getting a personal note or a package is still a highlight for me. Probably for most of us.
I asked Karen what she wanted and she told me:
- Ramen (okay, her taste sort of sucks)
- Beef Jerky (I take that back – she’s got taste)
- Candy Corns (nope – back to bad taste)
- Double Stuf Oreos (taste redeemed)
I burned a few DVDs of classics because when I asked about her favorite movie she mentioned Can’t Hardly Wait. This bitch needed to see Citizen Kane and Evil Dead 2.
And just because I thought it would be funny, I made a Certificate of Friendship.
She’s coming home on leave in a few days and although I don’t want her crazy ass coming within five counties 0f me, I’m glad that she’s safe. And, I’m proud to call her a friend.
