OWH.... Operation Write Home

Happy Wednesday everyone! Please bear with me, and grab a cup of coffee, for this is a super long post.  As many of you know I  love and appreciate our troops and the their love ones who are left behind at home. I belong to a group called OWH which stands for Operation Writing Home. Their mission is supporting our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them. As of August 2, 2010:   497,071 cards have been sent to deployed heroes!! Tell me that isn't awesome!!  I have a girlfriend, Lisa, The Purple Place, who mailed  42 cards yesterday!! YEA Lisa and thank you!!   Jan Hunnicutt started an OWH group over at Simple Scrapping Crafts  and asked me if I could make a card for the challenge today!  I felt extremely honored she asked! Right now OWH is having an all month Birthday Bash, across the nation to celebrate their September 12, birthday! It is an awesome celebration and I am hoping we can all join in one way or another. All the details are here.  Before I post my card I would like you to read a letter sent recently to OWH and I copied it from here. It is written by a wife of a Sgt. deployed to Afghanistan.
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Thank you so very much for the wonderful creation of cards that you have made and sent to our troops overseas. I have been the lucky recipient of several beautiful cards that my husband sent home to me from Afghanistan. If I could send you all the joy you have helped in creating by such a gift as this, you would know how truly grateful I am for your efforts. Thank you's don't seem strong enough to express my deepest feelings as to what they bring to my life. I know this sounds overly dramatic and I do ask you pardon for such poetic license in this as I will explain a little in the hope you all will understand, as I don't know if you have or had loved ones who have served in uniform but to me these little treasure are a blessing.

I am a Proud Marine wife and madly in love with my husband GySgt H.R. currently on a 12 month deployment to Afghanistan. We are stationed at MCAGCC (Marine Corps. Air Ground Combat Center) Twentynine Palms, CA. I moved out here in August of 09 just in time to watch my husband deploy that September, we are counting down the days till he will finally be home and we hope not to deploy again for a year (if we are lucky). Between the both of us we have 5 very strong children who are greatly missing their father right now. We have dealt with the 6 and the occasional 9 month deployments but, this is our first full 12 month cycle. Through out this deployment my husband has had very few times to call home and for the most part communications leaving the base are left to a 15 min phone call also, with the job he does (infantry) he is constantly busy focusing on his job as it should be and when he can he will write a quick note to everyone before he is off again doing what he must. There have been weeks that have gone by that I haven't heard from him, though I am grateful as we live in the technical era where phones, emails and texts exist the fact that I can get a word on his well being with in moments is a true blessing but, I have to say I have it easy as the wives before me would wait months to hear how their loved one was so, I am truly thankful.

The first card I received was 3 months into this deployment and now I will get one about 1 or 2 monthly. These cards are a welcome gift, truly they are as it allows him to express his thoughts when he feels the impulse to do so allowing me to know im still tucked safely in his heart as he is in mine. I check the mail and find these wonderful cards and I am all aglow telling all that can hear that My husband is the Bomb ..lol and you are all angels. It has been close to 2 weeks now since I last heard from My Henry and wouldn't you know it, there were 4 cards sitting in the mailbox with loving words from a man, stuck in the heat, surrounded by dirty, smelly marines but he took the time to write me and tell me how much he misses and loves me and our children..

I wanted you to know you have had a hand in keeping us all connected, when words fail us, you have given us a way to get it across so not a moment is lost even when they are so far from us. You not only helped him send his love home but made my day a lot less heavy with worries that can be hard to bare. Thank you and Much Awesome respect to all who have taken the time to participate in this cause.

Sincerely,

Mrs. R.M.R. 
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I have read this letter three times and each time the tears still fall down my cheeks.  Please go to the OWH OWH group at Simple Scrapping or the OWH website and see if you can help with their cause. We make so many cards for the challenges ...lets put them to good use! Those who do not craft they would be more then grateful for donations to help fray the cost of shipping.

There is one rule in making cards for the deploy and it is no glitter on the cards. A tiny spec of glitter makes a man or woman visible with night vision goggles, this is a risk no one wants to take. On OWH website it does say you can use Stickles. However, I choose not to use anything with glitter. I won't even make my cards at my usual place in fear a flec of glitter would adhere to it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this:

My Image today is from Karen Doodles.  Let me tell ya,  I love her images and use them a lot!! If you never been to her site take a quick hop over. I am sure you will be impress!!  I love my card and there isn't one spec of glitter on it!

•  Challenges:
•   Karen Doodles: anything goes
•   Digi Doodles Shop Best :anything goes
•   Dutch Dare: Anything goes
•   Polka Doodle Generic Card for Male or Female
•   Mami Doodles: Anything goes
•   Stampin B's Design; Birthday Card
•    Flutter by Wednesday: Favorite Color Blue and green