Grandpa Gave Me a Green Plastic Soldier on My Birthday for Years — One Day I Finally Understood Why, and I Was Utterly Stunned

Try to be more attentive,” she said, handing it to me.

I squinted. Sure enough: 12. And beneath it, tiny and faded: 2009, the year I received that soldier.

“Look at another,” she said. I pulled down a different one. 53.

And beneath that: 2010. I felt the air shift around me. We spread all eighteen soldiers across the table and flipped them one by one.continue reading …