Operation Care Package

So...Its Operation Thanksgiving Day Box for Jimmy. I have sent him regular mail and a bubble envelope for Halloween. Along with some pictures of the kids for his bed (small wall) and office. Its amazing how the times have changed. 15 years ago Jim and I only had the post office. We would number our letters so we wouldnt get out of sequence and get confused if they came all out of order. I recall getting them and smelling the paper. Funny what you do...but I did., his letters smelled JUST LIKE HIM. I would read them over and over. Jim has always been so sweet when he writes. But now we have email. Email is great. We are so thankful for the technology of it all. I can email and not have to wait for days or months for a response. That helps alot when chaos is happening !! But it does take away from the personal part of the letters. I cant smell email. But it still warms my heart when I hear "YOU'VE GOT MAIL" I anxiously scan for the ones that say haffnerj :)  So Thanksgiving is around the corner. For Jim to get his box I need to have it ready by Mon. 11/16/2009. I had it ready and mailed it out on Saturday 11/14/2009. Didnt want to take any chances that this wouldnt arrive on time. Its the very least I could do, bring a "little bit of home" to him.

So...I broke the rules...what else is new ...LOL The post office has so many strict rules now. 911 changed alot of things for the worse too. I know chances cant be taken...but its ME. I am not a bomber and I have no intentions of harming anyone. So...I sent those chocolate chip cookies !! Sue me. I also sent Velvetta Cheese and Rotel for him to make his favorite dip. He asked for that. I thought that was funny. I enclosed some trail mix and dove chocolates. Dove is his favorite ;) I included some writings/coloring pages that Jon wanted to send him. James Jr. had an article published and I put that in too. Jon, James and Marin made the Honor Roll and well...that came out in the paper too. So off I clipped that and sent it. I sent him the t-shirt from the Autism Walk. along with the lapel pin I made. The greatest thing in that box was a small 10 inch Christmas tree, 25 battery operated multi colored lights, a star and some small baby ornaments. This is for the Office :)
Just because they will be gone for the holidays doesnt mean the holidays have to be GONE from SIGHT. Anything to spread a little cheer and joy. Thats a MUST. None of this is cheerfull for any of us. But we must take these lemons and make lemonade. I hope he likes his Thankgiving day box. A "care" package to show him we "care" We love him and miss him. The Postal Clerk at the post office made it tough to mail out that silly box. She had a huge form and wouldnt stop talking about how SAD this was...It is SAD and no one has to tell us. We are living it. But I have to live it with a happy heart. A heavy sad heart gets me no where but depressed and I cant do that. Because this is what he does...what he loves to do and what I support him doing. Regardless of the sacrifices made. So I am sending that Care Package off with a huge happy heart.