OMG, I Freaking Did It Again

Lost ANOTHER blog entry due to owner stupidity, yet again. The Squarespace site locked up on me, so I copied my as yet unposted blog entry. Then, not thinking, I quickly cut and pasted a link, THEN hit escape to get out of the locked situation. The result? My last copy was a link, not my text. Rrrrrrrrr.....

I'll quickly recreate it. The original title was: AMERICAN FLAG - BEST GIFT EVER. The text was a slightly longer version of this:

A few months ago I reconnected with a friend from high school via Facebook. He and his wife now live in Alaska (the lengths people will go to to escape Ohio) and he is stationed through the Airforce in Joint Base Balad in Iraq. Discovering that he and wife are cat lovers, I sent them a signed copy of one of my books. In return, my friend asked for my address to send me a small gift. That was weeks ago, but on Wednesday a package was waiting for me when I got home. Inside was a note from my friend and a boxed American Flag. "How sweet," I thought. I lifted the flag up and discovered a certificate at the bottom of the box that reads, in part:

This is to certify this American Flag was flown over the skies of Iraq on a combat mission in direct support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Flown in an F-16CG, Aircraft #88-0528, Mission #I-6045 on the 16th of February, 2009.

It's signed by a Captain in the USAF.

How awesome is that? I love this gift! The best gifts are the ones you didn't even know you wanted until someone gave them to you. I'm looking forward to buying a flag holder, flying the flag, and taking a picture of it waving in front of our house to send to my friend. 

Reconnecting with a friend and a gift with such thought and meaning behind it that it left me breathless. Today is a good day.