Kids made my Valentine's Day in Iraq

By Jessica Morse

from the February 14, 2008 edition

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Baghdad isn't exactly the kind of place that lends itself easily to the traditional Valentine's Day fare of chocolates, flowers, and greeting cards. As a civilian employee of an international aid agency, I didn't have high hopes of seeing many Valentine's festivities, considering that the American demographics are weighted toward macho men who would probably forget the holiday even with the usual persistent reminders back in the US: TV commercials, red hearts lining the grocery aisles a month in advance, and local news looking into "the best gifts for that special someone."

So I decided to take matters into my own hands.

With some red card stock, ribbons, glitter glue, a few pages from a Mary Engelbreit calendar, and a red and white cake mix, I had plenty of ingredients for a cardmaking party.

I invited all the women in my compound and beyond, but only the hard-core cardmakers appeared, ready to create a little holiday cheer.

Karin came with sugar cookies decorated with pink and red icing, Maya brought a CD of love songs, and Amy won the prize for most crafty when she arrived with 15 pairs of scissors that cut in different patterns.

Bits of paper flew everywhere as we cut, pasted, and glued our way into what we felt would be the most successful American campaign in Iraq yet – Operation Iraq Love.

The cards started out with classic "Happy Valentine's Day" slogans, but quickly morphed into humor that would be appreciated only in Baghdad.

By the time the bowl of pink and white M&Ms had nearly disappeared, we were armed with 50 or so cards and plates full of sugar cookies.

So, on Feb. 14, when the sleepy bureaucrats waltzed into the office, rather than the regular yawning and moaning, I heard giggles and laughter as people gathered around our little stand of heart-shaped cookies that tasted like home and a wall of crazy Valentine's Day greetings with caricatures of flak vests and duck and cover bunkers on red construction paper.

Although our cards were a big hit, I didn't discover the true spirit of love and support that this holiday can symbolize until much later in the day.

I walked over to the palace that houses thousands of military and State Department employees and found in the hallways piles of valentines sent by schoolchildren and other Americans to cheer up the troops.

I thumbed through pictures of dogs and cats from kindergartners, envelopes that said "Howdy from Texas," and letters from Mr. Felp's third-grade class in Normal, Ill.

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