Coupons and Elderly Veterans

So it turns out that the commissaries over here allow soldiers and their families to use coupons a whole six months after their expiration date. Who knew?! I have never been really in to couponing and I won't be showing up on Extreme Couponing anytime soon, but it is fun to save a little money here and there.

Recently, some women on post wanted to start a group where we can sort through boxes of coupons together and share tips and what not, so I decided to check it out.  I didn't realize how many coupons we get sent! People stateside, mostly elderly people and/or veterans, send us boxes and boxes of expired coupons.  Some of these boxes even have them organized into groups based on whether the coupons are for food or non - food items, etc.

Well, we were opening up these boxes the other day and realized that some of them even have little notes or letters from the people who have sent them. We found one that was very humbling from a man named Herb who I believe was a veteran. It was short and sweet and if I had it I would copy it on here for you but a volunteer kept it so she could send him a thank you note.  It was really moving what he wrote about sending these to us because it is important for everyone to remember that we are here for them.  (it was really way better however he worded it,  I'm definitely butchering it, sorry Herb). But I was really moved by it even if for no reason other than after going to two of these couponing events now I realize how time consuming it is to cut out all of those stupid things. Haha.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... it makes everything seem worth it when you read words of appreciation from someone back home. I am very proud of my husband for serving our country and we are super grateful for the opportunity to be living in Europe. But it is easy to get caught up in little things of everyday life and it was definitely nice to read this note and suddenly have everything put back into perspective. Thank you to everyone who supports our soldiers and their families!