Five minute Friday--lonely

On Fridays, I participate in a group blogging experience called "Five Minute Fridays." Come join us some Friday!

Today's topic is lonely. I think we've all felt lonely at one time or another. I'm so thankful for friends I can call when loneliness creeps up on me. Have you ever felt lonely when you're surrounded by a crowd? I've been thinking about our service men and women.

What must it be like, on the other side of the world, when you are in a crowd, but all alone? Some have access to computers, but all don't. Some get letters, but all don't. Some get packages, but all don't. How lonely they must be!

One of the most fulfilling groups I participate in is called West Point Moms Bake. This is an off-shoot of the West Point Moms group on facebook that I started five years ago (we have over 2000 moms!). Our baking group is much smaller. We have about 330 moms. We are in groups of 10...so 33 baking "teams." Each team gets the name of a soldier/sailor/airman and sends a big box of home-baked goodies, magazines, movies, personal items, holiday decor, etc.... So, 10 moms mail to the same person. Ten personalities, 10X the mom-love. Then, the recipient gets to share the love...he or she shares the goods with his/her unit/squad.


We get the best letters back! "Thank you, thank you," "You have no idea....," "We are so lonely...." Sometimes we don't hear back, and sometimes our boxes go to someone we don't know and we get letters like, "you don't know me, but I got this box...."

I love being a part of this group of moms. We can't fix "lonely," but we think of our own sons and daughters and we pay it forward. Each of us in her own way...just as our grandmothers knit socks, finds a way to support the war effort. Sometimes as we sit and contemplate how lonely we are for our own sons and daughters in the military, we can draw comfort as we help fix the "lonely" someone else's child is feeling, so far away from home.