37 cents
Sunday, April 30, 2006
I got an email from Sandi Hammersly, who some of us were lucky enough to meet at the DC conference. She had a piece she wrote, but she doesn't have a blog....yet.
Welcome to the game Sandi:
37¢ was the cost of the stamp that went on a letter to a soldier in Iraq – a soldier whose post I had read on AnySoldier.com the previous night. A post that so haunted me that I couldn’t get it out of my mind. It was a post that saw me wide awake at dawn and writing a letter to him on May 28, 2005. It was a simple letter; one that spoke of the break of dawn in the woods of northern Michigan. It spoke of the sounds of the birds awakening to the dawn of a new day. It spoke of the simple things in life. It spoke of the events that had brought me to the north woods that day. It spoke of childhood memories of growing up in Hawaii. It spoke of the minutiae that make up my daily life. It was just simple letter, but it was the first link in a chain of events that would change my life forever.
Shortly after writing that letter an email arrived from that soldier. It seemed that letter struck a chord with him; he too had childhood memories of Hawaii – memories he was glad to share with someone who would understand them; someone who knew the flavors and the smells and the feelings. And an email correspondence ensued; one that lasted until an IED exploded. Then came the tense days of waiting for news. How was he? Where was he? How badly was he injured? Updates came from his wife as information was available. He was in Landstuhl. His injuries were serious but did not appear to be life threatening. He was in stable condition. He was enroute to Walter Reed. He had arrived at Walter Reed. She was at Walter Reed with him. The updates continued.