My son left for the Army the last week of July, just two days after his 19th birthday. Seeing’s how I’ve been in his shoes, I did what my father made me do when I left. I had him pack up everything and put it away for safe keeping.

Now Bailey, has had these Star Wars Stormtroopers on a shelf in his room, since he was about twelve years old. They weren’t for play and most were still in the package. His little sister who is three years old has been trying to get these guys off the shelf ever since she started walking.

What Bailey did the day before he left choked me up a little bit. He yelled for his little sister to come to his room and help him. She came flying, into his room as if she knew what he was going to do. He slowly took the Star Wars action figures down and handed them to her and said, “Ok Bug, I’m leaving tomorrow for the Army and I won’t be back for a while.” He took a shor

t pause, you could see he was starting to choke up a little. “Now I need you to take care of these guys while I’m gone.” I’m sure she didn’t have clue one that her brother was going to be leaving for such a long time. But her face just beamed with joy as she gave him a hug and kiss, then she was off to the living room to open them up.

Now, the other day I was kicking around ideas for my advanced photography class and what I could do. I was watching my daughter playing with her brother’s toys and a lightbulb lit up over my head. I’ve seen people do some pretty awesome work with their action figures. Making some scenes that look real and then some that just give you the “Toy Story” effect. I said, “Hey Bug, do you want to go take pictures of your toys and send them to Bailey.” Her eyes lit up with joy and she said, “Let’s do it dad.” With her help, here is what we came up with and sent to her brother at Fort Benning, Georgia.