The Soldiers’ Angels Mentor Team members are the absolute best. Mine is Dina. She’s been a huge inspiration to me and ever since I joined, she’s patiently answered all of my questions and helped out whenever I needed a nudge in the right direction, or some friendly advice.

One thing she emailed recently were suggestions for getting those creative juices flowing and getting around that letter writer’s block that some of us get:

• Buy a bunch of postcards from your area. On the back, jot down a note about what they are looking at, and what you did at that spot.
• Start looking for jokes on the internet or in your newspaper. Cut them out, jot a note and send it off.
• I hit the Dollar tree for funny cards, thinking of you cards, etc. (They are 2 for a buck) and then jot a note inside about the weather, something funny my son did, who won the big game, a movie I saw, etc.
• Grab a crossword puzzle book from the dollar store, and tear out a couple of the pages and send them along. Tell him that you’ll send the answers page in the next letter.
• Do you have any contact w/any school age children? If so, have them draw some pictures to send along. Heroes LOVE hearing from kids!
• Enlist the help of folks at church…grab a big card or cards and have a bunch of people sign it as a show of support.

Those are some great tips. A big ‘Thank You!!’ goes out to Dina for sharing.

Something else she shared with me:

One Iraqi Marine vet recently told an Angel he met that our letters and care packages are like “oxygen” to them … nothing means more to them than knowing a stranger cares about them while they are over there.

Amen! That’s pretty much what my soldier has told me as well. It may seem like a simple thing to us, but to those brave men and women overseas, our letters and packages are one of the most precious things in the world!

Do you have a tip to share?

All tips and suggestions for other letter writers out there are greatly appreciated!