Back in January, the third graders at St. Rose of Lima put their letter writing skills to good use. As part of a letter writing campaign to our soldiers, teacher Trish Simmons was given the name and address of SSG Raymond Smith who was stationed in Iraq to correspond with. The students wrote letters thanking him for serving our country and asked God to bless him and return him safely to the United States. They also told him that they were praying for his and the other soldiers safe return.

SSG Raymond Smith, as well as another soldier, were spiritually adopted by this class. Daily, the children prayed for these two men, as well as all of our soldiers. They were hoping to receive a response from their adopted soldiers and as the weeks passed they never lost hope. A very exciting call came to the school office stating SSG Smith was back from Iraq and on his way home to Virginia and he was stopping off in New York to come and visit the students. The children were thrilled at the thought of meeting their soldier.

On Wednesday, May 10, dressed in his fatigues, and carrying all his letters, SSG Raymond Smith walked into the classroom and greeted each child with a hand shake. He stayed with the class and answered questions and shared many stories about his experiences in Iraq. The children were quite touched as he told them how important he believed their letters and prayers were to him. He continued to tell them that back in January he was driving an officer in a Jeep. He told the children that he never wore a seat belt, but something told him to put it on during that drive. He did put it on and as fate would have it his Jeep was in an accident and flipped over three times. If he didn't have his belt on he told the class, he would have died. The next day, our letters arrived which were written two weeks earlier. He told the class that he believed that those prayers and blessings sent his way were what saved his life. He was thankful for the children's devotion to him and the other soldiers. This is why he made such a special trip to Massapequa.

A simple lesson in letter writing skills moved these third graders to tears. A life lesson on how

prayer and reaching out to others can make a critical difference in someone's life was learned by all. We are thankful that our soldier returned home to us and we look forward to a long relationship with him. The children were honored by his presence and special visit. To find out more about St. Rose of Lima School call

541-1546 or visit the school's website at www.stroseoflimaparish.org/school.shtml.