Operation Strong Square

There is a close-knit sorority of military wives.  When Kris and JP were stationed at Fort Carson, Kris met a fellow military wife whose daughter was in her first grade class.  This woman, a salty veteran of military life, had begun a program called "Operation Strong Square".  Through this project, she handed out donated (clean :-P) hankerchiefs to other wives whose husbands were going off to war.  Kris has told me that her hankie is one of her most prized possessions and that she carried it with her through the duration of JP's second yearlong deployment to Iraq in 2005-2006.

I had an overnight-mail package waiting for me on my doorstep when Emmy and I arrived home from the dreaded farewell.  Inside was my own special hankie...Kris was keeping the tradition alive.  Along with the beautiful hankie was this special note:

"Hankies have been around for ages, just as wives have sent husbands to war for ages.  Who knows who tightly held the hankie in her hands and what trials and triumphs that hankie saw her through?  Each stain is a scar of bravery that only adds to the mysterious strength of the cloth.  Hankies are pretty and look delicate, but are strong.  Yes, so are we.  Hankies remind us that there is still beauty in the desperate moments that our fear and sorrow have trapped us in.  Surely, nothing a good cry can't relieve.  And how wonderful it is to wave a large hankie when our husbands come home to us...It's ok to cry, but at least look pretty."

Recently, my new hankie collection grew...My mom shared with me a gorgeous lace hankie that once belonged to my great great grandmother, Edith.  What a treasure!

The tangible support bestowed upon me by my mom, (my great great grandmother) and sister was something that I felt compelled to pay forward.  The wives in our FRG should soon be receiving their own hankies as we embark on our second month of the deployment, which is notorious for being one of the most difficult.  It's pretty remarkable how far good ideas travel...

From left to right: Great Great Grandma Edith's hankie, Lancers FRG hankie and then my "strong square" from Kris.