The Best Postman In The World

I have the best postman in the world. He's called Phil and gives me a smile and a wave every day as he goes past my house.

He laughs and jokes with me whenever I need to sign for anything. He's an all round decent bloke who, in small ways that I'm sure he has no idea about, makes a difference to my days. 

He knocked on the door this morning to drop off a book I'd ordered, and I got a chance to give him his "Thank you for being so great" Christmas present. We got chatting and during the chat he said to me...

"You won't see me for a few months now, Emma, I'm going to Afghanistan for nine months. I'll be back in September. My little girl is 8 years old so she's old enough for me to go. I've been wanting to do this for years but the last chance I got to go my little girl was only 2, and if anything happened to me she wouldn't remember me. She's old enough now, so I've decided to go. I've been in the Territorial Army for years and I want to make a difference. I'll be at Camp Bastion."

In the smallest moments of any day, you never know when you're going to have a moment that touches your heart. 

Every day I've seen him, and smiled and waved back, having no idea that he was harbouring this dream. Or that he'd have to wait until his little girl was old enough to remember him before he could fulfil it.  

I asked him how he felt about going and he said, "Hopefully I'll be OK."

It was the moment he said those words and I saw a quick shadow of doubt go across his face, that I understood how much going to Afghanistan mattered to him, and how difficult it had been to make the decision to go. 

I'm going to miss his wave and smile as he goes past each day, and will think about him over the next few months and hope he's keeping safe. I have the best postman in the world.