By Jean Eaton, mayor of Albert Lea

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing on March 7, 2004?

Well there are about 88 families that remember that day as one filled with apprehension, sadness, fear and pride.

That day Albert Lea’s National Guard Company D 2/135 left their homes and families for an 18 month long tour of Afghanistan. These soldiers joined six other area soldiers who were already serving our country in Kosovo.

There are also additional soldiers from Albert Lea serving overseas with another troop.

The good news is that the soldiers from Kosovo are returning home! On Tuesday, Sept. 21, at 5:30 there will be a welcome home reception held at First Lutheran Church. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. Come meet our local heroes: Isaiah Gomez, Zaccariah Stuart, Kevin George, Bill Olson and Jeff Dahlen. Please be there to thank them for their courage in serving our country.

While these soldiers are coming home, remember that our deployed Afghanistan soldiers have been gone for six months now. Most of these soldiers left wives and many small children. These families have had to juggle their lives with kids, cars, jobs and homes for the most part, all alone. I can only imagine how stressful and lonely their lives must be at times.

When our own sewer backed up recently &045; at 11

p.m. &045; I knew how lucky I was to have my &uot;handyman&uot; husband at home to fix the problem. Maybe you know some of these families who have sent off a dad or mom, son or daughter six long months ago. They may be your friend, neighbor or co-worker. Perhaps you’ve thought of these families too and want to help in some small way…an offer to watch the children for an hour, provide a Minnesota &uot;hot dish,&uot; mow their grass, or even an invitation to have a cup of coffee with them just to see how they are &uot;really&uot; doing.

They may need help this winter shoveling the snow or starting a car or right now getting water out of a basement.

Home Depot has offered their help and will be fixing leaky faucets, caulking windows etc. for families later this month. One local dentist is offering his services to these families as well.

Please remember our soliders, but don’t forget the families left home alone.

On Sunday, Sept. 26, the Family Readiness Group from Albert Lea will be holding a &uot;Support Our Troops Day&uot; at the Albert Lea Armory and at the Northbridge Mall from 1 to 6 p.m.

They are collecting items to send to Afghanistan to help improve the quality of life for our troops.They will be collecting:

drink mixes, snack items, magazines, books, writing supplies, air fresheners, batteries, disinfectant wipes, mac-n-cheese, canned vegetables, black cotton socks, fly strips, gum, AT & T calling cards, sheets, blankets, foot powder, toliet paper, shampoo, soap, laundry soap, deodorizers, tooth paste and tooth brushes, mouth wash etc. Monetary donations needed to ship the items to Afghanistan will also be appreciated.

For more information call Co-chairs Pam Folven at 297-5136 and Kris Neumann at 641-568-3982 or the United Way office at 373-8670.

For more information on our troops or how you can help, please contact the Family Readiness Coordinators for our area Jeff and Lisa Olson at 256-4579.

(Jean Eaton is the mayor of Albert Lea.)