名稱：operation pepperoni pizza
內容簡介：
Dear Arizona,
　 My big brother, Mike, serves overseas in the U.S. Marines. My family is super proud of what he does for our country, but sometimes he's away for months, and we really miss him. How can I feel closer to him?
　 — Missing Mike in Montana





Dear Missing Mike,
　 That must be so difficult for you. My friends Mareya and Alana Becker would understand how you feel. Their dad serves overseas in the United States Air Force. I always knew he was gone a lot, but until last year, I didn't fully realize how incredibly hard that is on them.

The day I really started to understand was on Mareya’s birthday. Her mom had put together the coolest “make your own pizza” party. There were tons of different toppings, and we each got our own little pizza to decorate.

“I’m making a smiley face out of mushrooms,” said Simon.

“I’m making a Hawaiian pizza,” said Natalie, “with a pineapple palm tree.”

We were all getting more and more creative with our pizza art and were cracking each other up. Right when I was in the middle of the most hysterical giggle fit, I glanced over at Mareya. She wasn’t laughing. Instead, her eyes were filled with tears. She was looking down at her pizza, which had three letters formed perfectly with pepperoni: D-A-D.

I put my hand on her arm and said, “That’s the best one of all.”

“Pepperoni is his favorite,” she said, so softly I could barely hear. And then, even more quietly, she said, “I wish he could be here to have some.”


“Me, too,” I said. A moment that was so sad and difficult seemed to need words that were much more meaningful than “Me, too.” But no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t come up with anything else to say. It was pretty clear that Mareya was trying her hardest to keep it together, but she finally burst out sobbing.

Her mother suggested we all take a little break and go sit in the dining room. She brought hot cocoa and put an extra-big dollop of whipped cream in Mareya’s mug.

Mareya and Alana took turns telling the things they missed most about their father: that he loves pepperoni pizza, that when he sings along with the car radio he has the most embarrassingly out-of-tune voice, that he tells the funniest made-up bedtime stories, and that his favorite thing is getting handmade cards.

That’s when we all realized exactly what we had to do. While our real pizzas were baking in the oven, we made construction-paper pizzas with notes on the back to send overseas to Mareya’s dad, plus a bunch more for all the other troops in his squadron.

A couple of weeks later, Mareya’s father sent us the coolest letter signed by all the men and women in his air-force squadron. It said:

Dear Pizza Makers,
Thanks so much for sending those fantastic pizza cards. They looked good enough to eat! We’ve had a lot of fun talking about our favorite kinds of pizza, and we’re all looking forward to coming home and chowing down on some real ones.

With lots of love,
Mr. Becker (Dad) and his fellow pizza lovers

One thing I learned through this experience is that our troops really appreciate knowing that we’re thinking of them. And I could tell that making the troops happy helped Mareya feel better, too. Soon after that, Mareya and I started a group at school that writes letters to the troops in her dad’s squadron for different holidays (including some silly ones, like National Peanut Butter and Jelly Day). Since Veterans Day is coming up, we’re also making some special cards for veterans we know who are no longer on active duty—like my grandfather and Mareya’s great-uncle.

So, dear Missing Mike, although there’s no way I can completely know how much you miss your brother, I know there are millions of kids who can relate. Maybe your teacher would let you talk to your class about your brother, and your class could write to him and the other troops in his unit. You’d probably feel better letting people know what you’re going through, and I can pretty much guarantee that Mike would love getting the mail. Because while you’re thinking of him, I’m sure he’s thinking of you all the time, too.

Ciao for now,

Arizona