Back in June I wrote a post about a high school buddy named Jim who is in the Navy Reserve. He'd just received a call to let him know that he was headed out for 12 weeks of training and then to Iraq. I've tried to email and call him since he left, but was never able to get through to him. So, I called his wife last week and she gave me his new contact info. He is indeed in Iraq, but of course, we don't know anything more than that. His wife said that he isn't getting that much mail right now, so he'd be thrilled to get a letter from me. I told her that I plan to send him many letters in the coming months. I then sat down and wrote him a long letter. On Monday, I was working in my home office and my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number, but I picked it up any way--something I rarely do. It was Jim calling from Iraq.
We had a great conversation. He wanted to know what was going on back at home and I filled him in as best I could. We spoke a little about the "old days." He told me how much his misses his wife and kids already. We talked about his mom and her failing health. I asked him if he needed anything and he said that he really didn't. Apparently, so many people have been sending coffee, snacks, and various other things that he said he doesn't want for anything.
I told him that I'd be writing frequently and he said that's one of the best things I could do. He said that he routinely pesters the mail delivery guy in his unit about hiding packages and letters from him. Yeah, he's just joking with him, but it pretty much tells you how much Jim looks forward to receiving mail from home. And I don't blame him. But I plan to do all that I can to make sure he pesters the mail delivery guy a lot less in the future.
