Tears and gratitude from a solider and his mom

On Sunday, my phone rang. On the other end was the mother of one of the soldiers we sent Christmas boxes to. 

MauRena Scott was in tears. Happy tears.  Her son had called her when the three boxes arrived. He immediately texted the rest of the soldiers that are serving with him. They gathered at headquarters  around the boxes and delighted in the items within. 

E4 Specialist Scott told his mom that the boxes meant so much. He is a fan of Queen Bee candy. He kept those bags of candy for himself but shared the rest of the items. 

His first sergeant has been teasing him that Wyoming does not exist. In the boxes were maps of Wyoming and a Big Horn Mountain picture book. The first sergeant now believes that Wyoming is real. 

MauRena stated that as a mom and a military wife, it means so much to her that our community did this project. She, her husband and son feel so much gratitude that the troops were thought about. Through the tears, she added she can’t believe how many people wanted to make the boxes happen for troops many of them didn’t even know.  

Her words and her son’s words made me cry, too. While you do things to touch the lives of others, you don’t always get thanked. You’re not doing it for the thanks or the recognition so when it happens, it makes the heart swell a bit. 

Last week, I received a text from a cousin in Buffalo, Wyo. She said that she was listening to National Public Radio-Around Wyoming. They talked about the Troop Christmas Box project and how five deployed soldiers were sent boxes. How cool is that? The story mentioned their source was the Basin Republican Rustler. Double cool. 

A couple from Cheyenne saw our post on Facebook regarding needing postage. They contacted me and said they would pay for whatever the donations didn’t cover. Triple cool. 

Thank you to all who contributed. We had so much donated we sent two boxes with the Greybull Elks to be delivered to the V.A. in Sheridan. 

 God bless our troops and their families.