THE GIFT OF PAPER

This is a story about reams of paper and a 'thank you' letter that I will never forget which was written on graph paper.

Once again it starts with a cruise, our annual mother and daughters cruise.   As I wrote previously, I am not shy about telling strangers that I send care packages  in support of our troops deployed or asking for donations.   Occasionally the conversation leads to some rather remarkable outcomes.  This is one of those outcomes!!!!

A gentleman I met from Maine was most interested in assisting in supporting my efforts and promised to address this subject with his Kiwanis Club as soon as he returned home.   A couple of weeks later I received a phone call from a woman who heard his request at the Kiwanis meeting.  She owned a paper company and wanted to know if I would have a need for paper of any kind.   She had reams of paper, considered 'seconds', that she could ship to me.   I thought long and hard about what I could do with it and realized it could be used for our deployed troops to write home and perhaps other uses I was not even aware of.   I accepted and she sent me hundreds of pounds of paper, all cut to 8x10 and placed in clear zip lock bags.   Most of it was plain white or solid colored paper.  I literally had to have someone lift it and store it for me as there was nowhere in my apartment to keep it.

Slowly I used it, tossing a couple of these reams of paper in each care package knowing our troops would find ways to use it.   The added weight in each care package added to the shipping cost but I felt it would be worth it and it was.   This was back in 2004 when we were transitioning out of Iraq and starting to build up our troops in Afghanistan.

Again my nephew Alex McBride was deployed with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines.   They were all over Afghanistan and of course we were not to know their locations as they moved around the country.  This letter started with the endearing words "Dear LCpl McBride's Aunt".
He was writing to thank me for the package and tell me he was always the first one to 'hit the snacks'.  Then he proceeded to tell me that upon arrival in country they were given maps of their AO (area of operation).  Assuming  the maps were current they went out on their first patrol only to find that the roads, dry creek beds and buildings on their  maps did not exist, and what did exist  was not on the maps.   Only the ancient ruins were accurate!!!!   As it turned out, the maps they were given were surveyed in 1954 and reprinted in 1970 and were useless!!!!!!   

As this Marine wrote further 'Being the creative mission accomplishing Marines that we were we decided to map our own maps using our GPS's and our little knowledge of the area.  However, we couldn't draw straight grid squares for anything.  Then we got mail !!!!'  He started going through the box looking for favorite snacks when he found at the bottom bags of graph paper, mentioning that he ate a lot of snacks as well.  He immediately started making maps using the tracking feature on his GPS that tracked every patrol that they had done.
They found three alternate routes leading to their base, which was imperative in order to avoid ambush by the enemy as they avoided a pattern in their routes.  

His last statement was the one that really hit home.   "The graphing paper that you sent is helping to keep Marines safe and helping to complete our missions (killing terrorists)....that the graph paper was literally savings the lives of our Marines."  There were only a few reams of graph paper in the entire shipment I received.   His boxes just happened to be the ones containing the graph paper.  Coincidence?
I think not.   The Lord working in His mysterious ways yet again. 

Over time there will be other letters I will share with you.  This one has always held a special place in my heart.   I can't help but smile every time I look back and know that God has us covered no matter where we are.