I'm sure many of you had to do the Flat Stanley project when you were in elementary school. And for those of you who did not, the Flat Stanley project is where you print out a picture of Flat Stanley, a character from a children's book who was smashed flat by a post-board and travelled around by being mailed to friends, and send him to a relative or friend for them to carry around on adventures. One kid doing this project ten years ago did not have a relative or friend he wished to send this project to, so he decided to send it to a soldier in Baghdad, Iraq. The letter told the soldier who received Flat Stanley, Alan Orduna, to wait, so he did. He kept Flat Stanley in his wallet for ten years. During this time, Flat Stanley went through everything Alan went through, including witnessing multiple car bombs, fire fights, seeing Suddam Hussein, Iraq's first democratic election, two divorces, the market crash of 2008 which made Alan lose his job and have to move back in with his parents, Alan managing to get back on his feet again, and finally, towards the end of the journey, Stanley saw the boy who sent him to Alan in the first place. He was shocked beyond all belief that this project from when he was in elementary school, managed to find its way back to him all the way from Iraq.
I loved this story. I had to do the Flat Stanley project in third grade, and thought it was the coolest thing ever. I loved getting the pictures back from my cousin of Flat Stanley in Atlanta going to school with her and such. That's why I was attracted to this article. It's interesting how the article itself doesn't exactly revolve around Flat Stanley, but around Alan Orduna's life while he was in possession of this little two dimensional character. It's a beautiful story of a soldier's struggle with PTSD and how he manages to, through all the rough times and all the good times, get Flat Stanley back to where he belonged. It was a great article, and really made me realize how much can happen in ten years.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/23/flat-stanley-home-safe-after-decade-in-soldiers-wallet-/6762359/
That is so cute! I think that a flat Stanley is a great way to connect people with each other, across countries and the world. It cool to think that one thing traveled to all of those different places.
ReplyDeleteThis story is so sweet! I think it was such a creative idea for the boy to send his Flat Stanley to a soldier in the first place and it's amazing that he kept him throughout the years.
ReplyDeleteThis is really nice; it is a very thoughtful little project. It makes me slightly sad I didn't got to elementary school (only slightly though)
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