I have some great news to report. I promised to give an update on a story I wrote here on the blog March 3rd titled “Military Pen Pal Proposal” about my friend Jennifer Jones and her army soldier finance Scott Lee who has been deployed in Iraq. She has been anxiously waiting for Scott’s safe return to the U.S. for an agonizing 17 months total, and just last week, he came home.

Jones flew here to New York from San Francisco, and met Scott at Fort Dix in New Jersey, then the two of them came to stay with me in the city, and what a joy it was to see them together again.

Can you tell how happy she is? Just look at those dimples! We took a walk around the city when they got in, and checked out Carnegie Hall, Times Square, and a place Jones and I called our second home several years ago, the Sheraton Hotel on 7th Avenue.

We each were dispatched to New York during 9-11 from our California radio stations, and were both sent to this hotel. This is where we each built mini remote radio locations in our hotel rooms and did live reports day in and day out. It was raining when we walked up, but wanted to snap a picture anyway…

The very first thing Scott wanted to do in New York, was to get a slice of New York pizza, and after much debate with my friends and co-workers about where to take him(everyone in New York has a strong opinion about where to go for the best pizza in the city…) the decision was made to go to John’s pizza on Broadway.

I had never been there before, and I think it really might be the best slice of pizza around. Can you imagine what this must have tasted like for someone who has been eating MREs in Iraq for all those months?

The happy couple are now off visiting Scott’s family in the south, then they will soon start their new life together in the San Francisco area.

The wedding plans are full steam ahead….no word on if John’s Pizza will cater the event.

Don’t you just love chance encounters that turn into life changing events?

I have a great story to share with you that involves a very good friend of mine who took a trip to Nordstrom to buy sunglasses one day, and because of the people she met in front of the store, ended up with much more than a pair of shades. She ended up with a military pen pal which led to a courtship that reached half way around the world, and eventually a marriage proposal on the beach in Hawaii!

Meet Jennifer Jones, and Army CPT Scott Lee. There were a lot of obstacles to get to this one photo, but it is a story that will make you smile, and hopefully understand what so many people go through waiting for their loved ones to return from Iraq.

Quick background: I met Jennifer (who we all call Jones, actually, all of us in our group are referred to by our last names only) when we were both radio reporters at News Talk 1530 AM KFBK in Sacramento 10 years ago. We became fast friends, and were part of an amazing team of reporters, writers, and producers who have stayed close after we went our separate ways. Jones left the nest first, for an amazing job at San Francisco’s powerhouse radio station KGO AM 810, then I left Sacramento for a job at KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles. Jones quickly made her mark as one of their top field reporters, and anchors, and currently is the host of the morning show on the station (we are all so proud!)

Now to our story….

As we know, it’s sunny in California, and a girl has to have a good pair of sunglasses. Just before the fourth of July in 2004, Jones went to Nordstrom in Walnut Creek to go shopping, when she came upon a group of military moms. They had set up a table outside the store, asking for people to write letters to soldiers in Iraq to be included into their care packages. Being a patriotic soul (you should see all the American flags she has, and hear her sing God Bless America….) she said “sure!”. She wrote a letter that simply said: “Dear Soldier, I appreciate what you are doing, stay safe, God bless” and signed it Jennifer Jones. Simple, sweet, and to the point. The military moms told her to include her email address, so that if a soldier wanted to have a pen pal, they could have a way to write back. She agreed and added her email address.

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