Any Soldier

My husband, Gregg, has a hard time at Christmas time. The last time he saw his mom was on Christmas eve. She died a few days later, just two weeks after my husband turned 8. If you ask him about his favorite Christmas gift, he’ll tell you about the little box of individual serving of cereal she saved for him and gave him that Christmas eve.

In December 2002, he was in Afghanistan. His maternal grandmother died that year, on his birthday. So, Christmas day nine days later, he struggled with the memories of the mother he so loved and adored, and the recent death of her mother, who was his maternal influence growing up.

That year, for Christmas, he got an “Any Soldier” box. It was addressed to “any soldier who doesn’t have a living grandma.” It was filled with socks and treats and was from a grandma who thought that someone might need some grandma love.

As I type this, I’m tearing up remembering so much love going into that box, and how my husband needed it right at that time.

I would like to encourage every wonderful reader I have to send a box this Christmas season to a soldier, sailor, or airman who is deployed overseas. You never know what purpose God will put your box to use. You never know who is going to need to be touched by you right at that time. And believe me, your box will touch someone. Pour love into it, and the person receiving it will feel it and will know.

If you need to know what to send and to whom, this is a wonderful resource: AnySoldier.com

Some of the people filling out the forms were specific in what they want/need. Some were not. Don’t let that scare you. You can look through the wish lists to get an idea of what to send if your pick wasn’t specific.

You can get a box from the post office that is the same cost no matter what you put into it, no matter what the box weighs.

I would encourage you to send the box within the next week. Some people will get them in a week’s time, but for others it may take up to three weeks. If you mail it within the next week, you can almost be sure that it will get to them in time.

As the wife of a soldier, I would like to thank you for doing this.