The season of giving

Toys for Tots, a Christmastime program that many are familiar with, is the mission of the Marine Corps Reserve. They work each December to deliver on their motto- "Every kid deserves a toy for Christmas." Being in the reserves Travis gets to participate in this each year. In the past he has done behind the scenes work at the warehouse sorting toys, but this year they got a new job. They have been assigned to work at the KARE 11 Toys for Tots tent at the studio in Golden Valley. The tent is open daily for people to drop off toys and maybe get the chance to be on TV. Most of the Marines just sit around the tent and thank people as they come in but each day one of them gets to be the spokesperson for the news hours. Travis has gotten the chance to be on the evening and Saturday morning news a few times in the past week and should be on a few more times this week. He's not really that thrilled about being on the news, but something good came out of his Saturday morning interview this past weekend.

The first broadcast was at 8am and it was really cold outside. They asked him a few questions and then showed some of the people there dropping off toys. He was on 3 or 4 more times that morning and then got ready to leave at 2:30 pm. Just as Travis was walking out of the tent a man showed up carrying a large bag. The man came up to him and asked if he was the one who had been on the news that morning. Travis said he was. The man then handed the bag to Travis and said, "My daughter saw you on TV this morning and thought you looked cold--so she made you a blanket. Now, you can't donate this! She made it specifically for you." Travis, a little in shock, said thanks and went on his way. When he got home and took it out of the bag we found this very large USMC fleece blanket that smelled heavily of perfume. I just had to laugh at my "celebrity" husband who has already started receiving gifts from his fans. I am going to have to lay low for a while to make sure the Paparazzi don't find out where we live. We thought it was really sweet and very generous that a girl watching TV would be thoughtful enough to think about someone else and how they might be feeling. The father who delivered the blanket never said his or his daughter's name, so we may never know who she was, but we'll have the blanket and the memory for a long time. It's inspiring to know that there are such kind, generous people out there.