A couple of times in Journalism class I helped put together the boxes that were sent to "the boys in the service." We filled them with cookies, a copy of the Loudon Herald, pen and paper, and other little trinkets we thought the guys might like. I couldn't help but wonder if the guys really liked getting the boxes or whether they just tossed them as they got them. And then I found out.
After joining the Air Force and getting to my first assignment, I got a slip in my mailbox that said I had a package to pick up. It was one of the boxes. I already knew what was in it, but I was still excited. It was just a little shoebox wrapped in brown paper and twine, but it looked like a million bucks to me. I was holding something from home in my hands! The chocolate chip cookies were crumbs, but that didn't affect the taste, and I read every word of the Herald. Heck, I read every word of the Chieftain they included too and I didn't even know who d.s. was, but I knew that e.b. was dedicating "So Far Away" to them.
I got one of those boxes every few months, and enjoyed it very much. Not only that, but the guys I worked with adopted the Loudon Herald as their own. At first I got a little good natured ribbing from them about my "small town" newspaper and they laughed at what my grandmother called the "society page", that talked about who visited who, or who had Sunday dinner with someone else. The guys laughed at the "small town" stuff, but each of them would grab it and read it from cover to cover everytime I got a new one. I think it was refreshing to them to read a paper that wasn't centered around bad news.
It made me proud to be from Loudon.
1 comment:
I can remember helping make those boxes in Journalism class also. Seemed like a good break from the class -- didn't really know how much it meant to anyone.
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