Knee Deep in the Hooah!

Families prepare greetings and gifts for loved ones deployed overseas.

This past Mother’s Day I was contacted by Hallmark and was asked to try their new line of recordable Mother’s Day cards. They were trying their best to get them into the hands of military families who may have a wife or mother overseas. I had suggested to them to try and get the cards sent to the PXs overseas too so that military members could record a message and send it to mom here in the states (hey, I’m rooting for you moms out there!) I passed the cards out and the feedback was great. Everyone really liked the cards. They are cute, easy to use and the sound is good and clear. The designs range from serious, to cute to funny, so there is something for everyone.

I was contacted again, but this time about Christmas related items. It was too late when I got them (just a few days before Christmas) to try and get anything sent to Iraq or Afghanistan, but that didn’t mean that I couldn’t get them to some military families! I was able to send out the cards and ornament that were sent to me through a first come first claim give away. I gave them away on AllMilitary in the family forum and at Christian Military Wives in the general discussion forum.

I kept one card and had my Emma record a message to two of her dear little friends who will (hopefully!) be moving to Korea soon to be with their daddy while he is stationed there. She loves Kayla and Grace and does not get to see them any more. Their mother, Kristen, said the girls just love hearing Emma sing to them when they open the card! It’s a keepsake for them, and when they are far away from the States all they have to do is open the card to hear the voice of a friend who loves them back here at home.

The sound of a voice can really evoke a lot of emotions for us. I have a video of Bryan leading the Soldier’s Creed at graduation and I used to listen to it when I missed him. It seemed to take the edge off of the sadness that would be overwhelming some days when I missed my husband. The cards were  a huge hit and some of the folks sent me a note to let me know they got and were really having fun preparing the card to ship.

Recordable cards were not the only items sent in this shipment. I received a very cute recordable ornament (two) that holds a picture. It’s a Santa theme and could easily hold a small picture of your little one on Santa’s lap with a recorded message for the Holidays. This is another opportunity to reach out to a loved one who is deployed and send them a face and a voice that reminds them how much they are loved and missed.

I also received the ornament  in the picture (two of the same) that I sent out to two different people. It’s the same ornament… one went to an Army wife and the other to a Sailor. The ornament is customizable and is called “On Wings of Courage.” It comes with a decal that allows for the ornament to be customized by Branch. I thought it was a very nice design and I loved that the same ornament could go to anybody serving in the Armed Forces.

Christmas and New Years are over now, so why am I posting this? Because I love that Hallmark has made a very special effort to reach out to the Military community. They even had an event at Ft. Bliss and families got to record messages to be sent to deployed deployed spouses and parents. The picture at the top of the article is from that event.

So, when you are out and about and need some keepsakes or cards to send to your loved ones… those here and those overseas, please stop in and see what Hallmark has in store. They obviously have found a special market and understand that things like recordable cards hold an extra special element of communication for families with a deployed spouse or parent (or child!).

Keep this in mind and pick up some of those recordable Mother’s Day cards in time to mail them (I am not sure when they will go on sale, but usually items are out in plenty of time). If you are a person who sends care packages to our troops, include some of these recordable cards in your shipment. As a military mom whose son spent 15-months in Iraq with very limited contact, I can tell you that having a recording of his voice would have meant a lot!

Thank you Hallmark!