Thanks for a Valentine That You May Have Created . . .

In the midst of a busy Thursday afternoon, an e-mail arrived in my inbox.  I get lots of e-mails – and a lot of them are spam, so I have a heavy finger on the “delete” key.  But I stopped short when the subject line simply said “Thank you!”  What I read from Kirsten Madaus just made my day – I suspect it might make yours as well – and it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day Weekend.

Here is what Kirsten wrote . . .

“I’d like to convey my thanks to some paper crafters across the US, and since I don’t know who most of them are—I’m trying to cast a wide net.

“My spouse is currently serving his 5th deployment and is lucky enough to be stationed at a base where the folks of From Our Hearts shipped out loads of blank cards. Deployed service members use these cards to write home to their families and friends, and my spouse is really impressed with the talent available when he goes to pick out cards to send to us.

“If the paper crafters included an e-mail (some do) I’m able to take a photo and email my thanks. But since From Our Hearts has shut down, I didn’t think there was any other way to say “thank you”.

“So here ya go—on behalf of all the talented and generous crafters who donated their art to the troops—this family gratefully says “thanks”.

How great is that?  I know that a lot of you have donated cards to the troops through many organizations over the years, so I hope that you will consider this a personal thank you from a military family that you have touched.  But I wanted to know more – so I asked Kirsten for more information about her military family.

 

Mark Madaus is a civil engineer, and the pic with the giant bulldozer is from his first tour in Iraq.  Kirsten says “He’s 6’4”, that’s a really big bulldozer.”

 

Most of you know that I’m not a foodie, but Kirsten writes a blog at www.farmfreshfeasts.com and when I went there I got hungry.  Kirsten and Mark have been doing “Community Supported Agriculture” (translation – farming) for the past ten years and she writes about what she makes with what they grow.  The picture at left was taken last summer and shows off her first successful grilled pizza (yum), and of course the one at right shows her taking pictures for her blog.

One of her most recent posts involves a Bacon Egg and Potato Pizza – doesn’t that sound like breakfast?

So in case you ever wondered, the cards you create to support the people who protect us are used by real people with real lives who appreciate you as much as you appreciate them.

Thanks, Kirsten!