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NEWS | March 1, 2017

Army Reserve healing through memories and love letters

By Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth Scott Army Reserve Medical Command

At some time in life, most can say they have lost someone close to them. Operation Love Letters hosted in the Tampa, Florida area, is a day set aside for survivors of fallen service members to do more than remember their loved ones’ loss. On Sunday 19 Feb., at Tampa’s Veteran’s Memorial Park, family members wrote personal letters to their loved one and sent them skyward in balloons. Families also shared stories with other attendees over their fallen service member’s favorite dessert creating “sweet memories” to replace some of the bitter ones.

Operation Love Letters is in its second year in the Tampa area.  This event celebrates the love and remembrance for fallen service members who are thought of and missed around Valentine’s Day. Channeling that love back to the service member is seen as a form of healing through shared positive memories about the good times.
 
During the event, children in attendance created wooden memory boxes and Valentine hearts with supplies from donated businesses for their service members. Marc Aghedo, from Child and Youth Services for 335th Signal Command, and USO volunteers from the Tampa area assisted the children in making their gifts to honor ancestors and siblings who had died in service to their nation.  All of the activities scheduled were meant to build resiliency for the families by providing a platform for peer to peer support.
 
Operation Love Letters got its start in Orlando with Ms. Shinekqua Baines, U. S. Army Reserve Survivor Outreach Services coordinator, along with Gwendolyn Hannah, a financial counselor for Survivor Outreach Services. Five years ago, Baines was inspired to release balloons with notes to loved ones tied to them around Valentine’s Day as she struggled with feelings of being alone.
 
Baines explains the importance of the balloons for the survivors attending the event.
 
“It allows them to take a deep breath and a refresher of the moment. They release the hurt and the pain or just express happiness. A lot of our survivors hadn’t gotten the opportunity to really grieve properly,” said Baines.

In the future, the plan is to place flower seeds inside the balloon before it lifts up to the sky to eventually pop.  When it pops, the flower seeds will fall to the earth and some will take root, starting new life.  To Baines, this symbolism represents “new growth in the family, becoming their new normal.”  The flowers will grow in a distant place and a new family dynamic will also grow.
 
Nannette Rogers, U.S. Army Reserve Survivor Outreach Coordinator assigned to the Pinellas Park area, further elaborated on the healing power she has witnessed when survivors write a letter to their loved ones.
 
”This helps individuals let go of something they are carrying with them and sending a message that they want their service member to know.  A lot of those mothers didn’t get to say their final goodbye. It could be a message they wanted them to know, but never got to say,” said Rogers.

One of the individuals in attendance, Annette Kirk of Valrico, Florida, lost her son, Pfc. Paul Cuzzupe, in August of 2010. As a member of American Gold Star Mothers, she attends many events like this one to honor her son’s memory. She has formed a tight relationship with other Gold Star Mothers but points out it doesn’t matter where their loves ones served and the circumstances surrounding their loss.

 “We’re all in it together, it doesn’t matter what part of the planet, we just know we’re all Gold Star moms,” said Kirk.