Mundane Magic » My Good Deed: A Letter from Lisa Dolan

THIS POST FEATURES A GUEST WHO IS A SPECIAL FRIEND TO OUR FAMILY. In 1990, I arrived in Charleston as a newlywed who was new to not only marriage, but the life of a Navy Wife. Lisa Dolan was the wife of a senior officer on the ship who welcomed me into her life as a friend. She shared her wisdom and laughter through all those deployments while our husbands were gone away to battle. In 2001, Lisa’s husband, Captain Robert E. Dolan, U.S. Navy, was serving at the Pentagon on the fateful day of September 11th. Lisa has served so many others since that day, understanding with love what only a survivor family can. She has lovingly involved her two children in these acts of service as she parented them into adulthood. Lisa is currently an Ambassador with My Good Deed and she writes this letter to you hoping that you will honor the 10th Anniversary of September 11th with your family.

Dear Friends,

As you all may know, I am fairly active in the volunteer community. I naturally gravitate to 9/11 or military related causes, but I promote all community and civic volunteering. It is also important to me that we teach our children to serve. Advocating youth involvement, with the help of friends, a citizenship award was established at our elementary school in Bob’s memory back in 2002. My wish is to one day expand this community service award. I slightly digress, but I am trying to express how passionate I am about giving ones time and talents to volunteerism.

I was approached not long ago by the organization MyGoodDeed to become one of their Ambassadors. MyGoodDeed Inc. was founded to promote a productive way for Americans and others to remember the victims, survivors, volunteers and heroes of the September 11 attacks. People are encouraged to voluntarily support charitable causes, perform good deeds and engage in service activities. Of course, I agreed to help them.

I had recently been pondering asking friends and family to volunteer this year around 9/11 in Bob’s memory. While I was contemplating the many possibilities, along came MyGoodDeed, and it sort of closed a circle.

In observance of the 10th Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, MyGoodDeed is working to organize the single largest day of service in history, spanning all 50 states and many nations around the world. I am excited to be a part of this grassroots effort.

Now down to the nitty gritty… I am writing to ask assistance with this project. Within MyGoodDeed, I am asking people to join me in celebrating Bob’s life. Sometime on or around 9/11, I am hoping our friends and family will honor him with a GOOD DEED. This is where you all come in! Do you think you would be willing to perform some service activity in Bob’s memory? There are so many different ways to honor him, if you need some help coming up with a “good deed” let me know. I have some ideas.