July 4, 2008
BZ: This is an open letter to the many special people who have helped to make this base not just a place to live, but a place we call home. We are grateful to have had the blessings of living in Japan on Yokosuka Naval Base. When we first arrived here last year, everything seemed new and overwhelming. We quickly came to appreciate how genuine concern is quickly and quietly translated into action when our flat tire at the commissary was kindly changed by three commissary employees. Then, we were welcomed by employees of the Housing office who are so efficient and ever so gracious. The Chapel of Hope chapel services and women’s bible studies filled an important and special need in our family. Thank you to the Chapel angels! The staff at the hourly Child Development Center loved our little one as if she were their own and we have come to consider them adopted aunts! The friendly staff at the Purdy Fitness Center helped to make exercise fun and went the extra mile to always ask about our day. The teachers at Kinnick High School were excellent and really cared about our teenager’s total adjustment to a new school and all that entailed. The staff at the Main Post Office are heroes for their tireless patience and desire to help in the most busy and difficult of situations. Trips to the commissary became fun as cashiers and baggers played and laughed with our little one. Coughs, colds and shots at U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka were scheduled in a prompt manner with compassionate care. When we entered and left the base, seeing the young men and women in uniform always made us proud and reminded us of the rest of our military family who wear the uniform of the United States with dignity and courage. We stood up taller when we watched the ships come and go and especially when the young military families were welcoming or seeing off their loved ones. We have come to more fully appreciate the sacrifices of those who serve our country abroard. We wish all of America could know the brave and humble hearts of these military families. We will always remember this time at Yokosuka with smiles. Thank you to the many people who made our duty station abroad a time of “sweet memories.”