Local florists say these soldiers are making long-distance telephone calls and using the Internet to order flowers and gifts for their wives, mothers and daughters for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, wedding anniversaries and birthdays.
Bunny Graham, a Harker Heights mother of four, found a giant poinsettia bouquet on her doorstep last Dec. 17, the day of her 19th wedding anniversary. Her husband, a soldier in the 4th Infantry Division, was in Baghdad at the time, serving his second tour in Iraq.
“I knew instantly it was from him. When we got married the church was full of poinsettias and I knew my husband would make that connection.”
Using the Internet
Tyler Broadway, public affairs officer with the 4th ID Rear Detachment, spent a year and a half in Iraq. He took advantage of the Internet to send his wife flowers on Valentine’s Day.
“I remember that day specifically. I actually got online … they were able to deliver them that day,” Broadway said.
“She just couldn’t believe that I did that from 9,000 miles away. I think I caught her off guard. Just because we’re over there … even with boots on the ground … it’s important to recognize these occasions,” Broadway said.
Rewarding and humbling
Seleese Thompson, owner of Precious Memories in Temple, said orders from deployed soldiers have increased every year since 2003, when she bought the business. She said working with the soldiers is rewarding and humbling.
“It makes you feel really good to talk to them and help them, and you’re a part of something here for them,” Ms. Thompson said. “We’re really blessed in that way, to get to provide that service to their loved ones.”
Ms. Thompson said some soldiers handwrite personal cards when they place orders before deploying. And some leave special instructions for the delivery person, like, “Mom can’t hear very well, go around to the back door; or leave it with Miss Smith next door.”
“As a general rule, they’re not making a big deal out of the fact they’re soldiers,” Ms. Thompson said, “They’re an incredibly modest group of people, and they don’t use that in any way to gain special treatment. It’s our privilege to get to work with them and do what we can to service them because they’re over there fighting for us.”
Of course, today’s Army includes many women. They too, remember loved ones they left behind to serve their country.
“For Mother’s Day last year a lady called me (from Iraq). It was about 7:30 one Saturday morning, she had five orders … she was doing it for her mother, her grandmother, two of her friends, and her sister,” Ms. Thompson said.
Joan Howell has worked at Precious Memories for four years. She says she can tell by the several-second delay when a soldier is calling from overseas. Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are the busiest time for taking soldiers’ orders. She says they try to make each request as special as possible.
“We take care of our military, from the moment we receive that phone call to the time the order is placed, designed, out the back door and on the delivery van. It’s a pleasure to be able to help them.”
According to an Army spokesman, about 158,000 U.S. troops will spend Valentine’s Day in Iraq.
