June 3, 2017 was a big day for Pleasanton Military Families. First, they put on the 7th Annual Pancake Breakfast complete with military in uniform and HumVees in attendance. Next up, the PackOut for 32 active military deployed around the world. It was an even bigger day for my neighbors and special friends Reed, Alyssa and me…our first Pack Out together. I invited Reed (11 years old) and Alyssa (2nd year of college) to join me and they were eager to find out what it was all about.
First order of the day for us was to write some messages to the troops to put into the care packages. Cards, colored pencils, stickers, sharpies and practice paper all ready for action. I was so impressed with their sincerity, desire to share meaningful messages and their very creative artwork.Alyssa drew a picture of downtown Pleasanton and our famous arch with an American Flag flying away. Impressive! Reed added his own red, white and blue artwork to his written message.
Cards finished, we headed downtown to the Veterans Memorial Building. Reed and I got to walk right across the park and into the HumVees. A young Army officer asked Reed if he was interested in the military. Reed smiled and answered, "Yes, I am." Who knew??? He climbed into and out of the HV. They chatted and Reed learned that only 20% of recruits are engaged in combat and that the military employs people to do every job inside that exists outside the military…photographers, cooks, journalists accountants and so on.
Inside the hall, boxes were ready for us to fill.
But first, family members of deployed were asked to give an update on their sons/daughters. As if on cue, one father explained that the thing his son loved most about the boxes was the cards and letters that people wrote to him. WOW! We did that! Reed and Alyssa were beaming. After we walked the rows, filling our boxes, Reed addressed our envelopes with the name of the soldier who would open our box. Personal and heartfelt.
We were lucky that the boxing crew was somewhat small this year so we got to pack 5 boxes in all. (I usually only get to do one box)
The surprising news is that we ran out of supplies before we filled all the boxes! Never happened before. So we have a big job to refill all of our supplies before the next Pack Out in November. Alyssa wants to be there with her own cards to add to the boxes. Reed and I finished the morning with a medium vanilla cone from MeadowLark Dairy while he told me all about his upcoming summer vacation to Boston where no doubt he will add to his appreciation of the military impact on our nation. According to Reed,
"Thank you for risking your
life for our freedom."
