Those of us of a certain age (ancient) probably remember the Perry Como Show segment addressing the letters they received each week with their signature song:
“Letters – We Get Letters, We Get Stacks & Stacks of Letters …”
Well, I came across a Diary at Daily Kos just a day ago about the impact of receiving letters, and it restored my faith in humanity. So I decided to share it with you today
There’s a WWII Vet, a Mr. Joe Cuba (better known as “GI Joe”) who resides at Brookdale Assisted Living facility in Wichita Falls, TX who will turn 100 y/o on March 2nd.
The germ of an idea on how to mark that day started when his oldest daughter, Beverly, wanted to do something special for her Dad’s Centennial Celebration. Joe (who is the son of Czechoslovakian immigrant parents), Beverly and the Brookdale staff talked it over, and he shared with them that he thought it’d be nice if he were to receive a Birthday card for every year he's lived.
The staff jumped into action and posted a very simple request on Brookdale’s manager (Stephanie Veitenheimer) Facebook page:
We here at Brookdale Midwestern would like to help our resident Joe reach his goal for his 100th Birthday will you…
Posted by Brookdale Midwestern on Thursday, February 21, 2019
Then a local news outlet, Texoma’s, picked up the story – and the ball started rolling.
From there, it was picked up by the USA Today Network … and the dynamite went “BOOM!”.
Veitenheimer said: "We've had people all over the U.S. call us to ask if it's a legit post. It's been just humbling to know that people want to help us celebrate his 100th."
Medical equipment companies have reached out to her to see if they could give Joe any medical equipment he might need for his birthday.
"Teachers have said their students are learning about the Greatest Generation and want to send cards to him. It's just awesome," she said.
Joe was the second born of 12 children – 6 boys and 6 girls – who grew up on a farm in Archer County, Texas raising livestock, cotton and wheat. The entire family only spoke Czech, and Joe didn’t learn English until he started school.
While there was plenty of work for all of them to do on the farm, the Depression they lived through wasn’t as hard on them as on people in the city – they always had food on the table.
(Reminds me of what my Mom always said, who was born in 1916 and grew up on a farm in Illinois with 3 brothers. They never went hungry, and the Depression was much easier on farm folks than city folks. And similar to Joe’s family, they only spoke German at home.)
Before heading off to war with the U.S. Army Air Corps, Joe made sure to marry the love of his life, Nida, on Aug. 3, 1943. He later served in Guam and vividly recalls the 33 days it took for them to sail across the Pacific on the “iron ship” from Seattle. He swears he’ll never eat another sardine or powdered eggs again.
The USA Today Network story got so much positive feedback, they did a follow-up story featuring the response not only from locals – but from people across the country. And of course the cards started to trickle in.
And about “Gi Joe’s” wish for those 100 cards – one for each year? Well, that trickle turned into a deluge! He has gotten over SIXTEEN-THOUSAND CARDS AND LETTERS from well-wishers far and wide … and still counting! (We all probably pity the poor postman.)
It’s been a response so exceeding their expectations that Brookdale had to dedicate an entire room just to store all the greetings and gifts.
GI Joe takes care to share the good wishes he’s received with the other residents at Brookdale, and especially enjoys it when other Veterans come to visit.
Without a doubt, it’s a Centennial Celebration that will be long-remembered and cherished … and one that helped restore my faith in humanity!
12 Responses to “Friday Fun: “Letters – We Get Letters …””
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Cross posted to Care2 HERE
I saw this on Daily Kos also. What a joy! People really can be wonderful when they open their hearts. (And, yes, I remember Perry Como well.)
I particularly liked Jessica's last two paragraphs on DK –
Especially the suggestion on how to share the wealth.
Love the story about the vet getting all the letters for birthday #100! We have a local sports radio host who uses the "we get letters" music regularly, I think a slightly different version, but a fun song
Wonderful!
As a, somewhat tangential, side note, I am reading "the Last Lectures," by Randy Pausch. He mentions that his father 11was a medic in the WWII Battle of the Bulge…one of my wif'es uncles was also a medic at the Battle of the Bulge! What a generation!!
Happy Birthday, Joe Cuba! You got 160 cards for each of your wonderful years. And you deserve each and every one of them, for serving our country and taking such good care of yourself.
Enjoyed watching Perry as a child sing as a child, still do! Love Perry Como!
Happy Birthday, Mr. Cuba! What a wonderful way to celebrate this gentleman! I'll send him a card for sure, he deserves that, and more, imho.
Delightful post, Thanks, Nameless,
and to Joanne for cross posting.
Help: Why is it that when I go to the Care2 page and click the other> to look at the previous page, it just kee[s showing me the existing page?? I had various appointments this week and wanted to view the listings from earlier that people listed. I haven't seen one from TomCat for three days. I have wrote to Care2 help yesterday and still haven't heard a word. Am I the only one with this happening? Please let me know.
I enjoyed watching Perry Como. Sure brings memories of my younger years when I use to watch his weekly show.
I also wish Mr. Cuba a very Happy 100th Birthday. Will send a card
This time it's Politics Plus that's having issues. Congratulations on being able to leave a comment! TomCat is working with the tech people to figure it out (of course it had to happen on a Friday afternoon and the techs don't work weekends.) Bear with us.
Perry Como was a mainstay in our house when I was growing up!
My paternal grandfather, to whom I was very close, died 6 months shy of his 100th birthday and was a wonderful man cherished by the nurses and care aids. They would do anything for him even stopping by his bathroom to wash his face, comb his hair and put on a suit jacket before being wheeled into the dining room for lunch. He sat with 3 ladies at his table and just pleasantly nodded during conversations. He could not hear a thing. They all thought he was a dream! He died 28 years ago this coming April.
Joe Cuba reminds me of my grandad! Happy Birthday Joe Cuba!
What a delightful story. Joe Cuba deserves each and every one of thos 1600+ cards and letters and I'm sure he's enjoying all of them. Let's do a repeat on your 101st birthday, Joe!
AWWWWW what a wonderful response, WOW he received 16,000+ wishes & cards!!!
Brookdale Midwestern sounds like a wonderful place!!
Happy Birthday GI Joe – Joe Cuba!!!