Soldier Mail- sort of

     I received an e-mail from one of my soldiers today telling me that his deployment in Afghanistan is ending and he'll be headed back to the base he came from. He thanked me for my letters and told me that he was really happy and grateful to receive them. It kind of made my day. He said he was a little surprised that there was a stranger who cared so much about someone who was deployed. Here's how I feel- there are many people in this world that feel totally alone; some are serving on remote bases in the Middle East, some are people who are away from family, some are the people surrounded by all of their friends looking like life is perfect. If I can take a few minutes out of my day to encourage someone- even a stranger- to remind them that someone cares about them, it's worth it for me. (I've recently discovered that I seem better doing this for a stranger than I sometimes do for my friends and family but that should probably be another post.)  I challenge you all to take a few minutes today to notice someone that you might have otherwise overlooked. This may sound corny to some people, but I really think if people just felt like others noticed them the world would really be a different place.