Waiting in Florida was a great deal of mail from several months, and so I’ve been trying to read every letter. Some are written by kids, but many more come from senior folks. Every time I get ready to stop with the war, it’s these letters that bring back my energy. There were thousands of emails from this year that I could not even open, but paper letters are there waiting for me months later, and so I can read them on trains, planes and while decompressing each time I leave the war. There is just no substitute for an old-fashioned handwritten letter.

Kudos to CNN for helping rescue little Youssif. Sounds like Arwa Damon took a central role in saving a young Iraqi boy’s life. The big heart of Americans is a force in itself. I’ve heard many Iraqis remark with surprise about how Americans welcome them and treat them so well. Many Iraqis already know how good our soldiers are, but there is a common perception among many Iraqis that Americans at home must hate Iraqi people.

The CNN reports on little Youssif showed his family was surprised at how good Americans can be toward ordinary Iraqis. It also showed the power of the media to create good. It will be a great day indeed if other media take CNN’s example with Youssif, and go beyond regurgitating unverified reports of attacks, or having the only mention of the war be a car bomb that exploded somewhere in Tikrit, and find the stories that tell the full and more complex truth about Iraq and its people. News like that increases the amount of good in the world. It may not do much to diminish the huge amounts of bad out there, but every once in a while people can handle good news.

On these holidays, my thoughts are with American and British soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan and other dangerous places. They understand what I mean when I say: man, it’s good to be home.