Buying Dinner for Uncle James

Dear Jack,

We went out to dinner tonight and when we were just about finished, a young man came in with his family. He was wearing his ACUs, his army uniform, and he brought with him his parents, grandparents, and then maybe his wife or sister, as well as some other either siblings, cousins, or friends.

I don't know if that young man was on leave, home from deployment, about to be deployed, at the start of military career, or hoping to be done with it soon, but I know he is a soldier and I know his family is proud of him.

Just like our family is proud of your Uncle James and your Uncle Jonathan.

And I know that whenever we used to take Uncle James out to eat, or when we do get to go out with Uncle Jonathan, the family policy is that the serviceman never pays. Sometimes your dad pays for the meal, sometimes your Gram or your Grandpa, sometimes your Nana or your Great-Grandpa, but never, ever your uncles.

They pay enough. Your Uncle James paid the most.

So when that soldier sat down with his family, I knew that either his dad or his grandpa would be expecting to pay. In fact, there was a chance in my mind that those two patriarchs had been squabbling over who would get the honor.

But we were there and we don't get to pay for your Uncle James anymore, so we called our waitress over and made arrangements to take care of that soldier's meal.

I'm sure the waitress thought we were very patriotic, and really, we are.

But we weren't just doing it to thank that man for his service, although we were.

And we weren't just doing it because we want to show you and your sister the importance of random acts of kindness, even though we do.

We did it mostly because we miss your Uncle James and would give anything to take him out to dinner again. But we can't. So buying meals for unnamed soldiers is the next best thing. So that's what we do.

I consider it buying dinner for Uncle James, and I hope that's how you will come to see it, too.

Love,
Mom