Mail Call Greeting Cards available through Card Isle!

At Card Isle, we stand for helping people connect more meaningfully. A greeting card can convey empathy and solidarity in a singularly impactful way, especially for those who serve in the military or love someone who does. Susie Bennett of Mail Call Greeting Cards believes an eagle and an American flag aren’t enough to do the trick when it comes to military themed greeting cards. “Who says patriotism has to be boring?” she asks. Susie’s perspective as an insider in the military community goes a long way in helping her to capture the events and sentiments of military life in a way that is far from boring. And her designs go a long way to helping Card Isle serve military families at our kiosks.

Susie, who lives and works in Florida, is surrounded by family members who serve or previously served in the military. Her husband is an active duty service member currently on deployment. Susie came to the idea of military greeting cards when she sought in vain for the perfect card to celebrate her husband’s graduation from military training. Enter Mail Call. Mail Call designs acknowledge the spectrum of human emotion experienced in military life with a strong measure of humor and optimism.

Conversations with her husband and Susie’s own lived experience of years of military life, spur her to come up with uniquely military, and often funny, themes for greeting cards. Many of Susie’s designs feature military phrases which, she explains, have a way of tearing you down and uplifting you at the same time. “There are so many odd and funny things that happen when you find yourself within the military community. Those outside of it may not understand, but almost all of those within the community do,” says Susie. “Embrace the Suck,” is military slang for accepting awfulness you cannot change and motivating to push through it. As Susie sees the expression, “it’s almost a form of tough love, but at the same time it shows you someone understands and they have been through it or through something similar…without solidarity within the military community, there is no way we could get through this all on our own.”

During deployment, written word takes on a whole new meaning. Mail Call offers birthday, anniversary, holiday, and special “military just because” cards that can be sent from any distance. Again, these are not your typical greeting cards. Sometimes they cut right to the chase of difficult themes. The bravery card bears the quote, “bravery is being the only one who knows you’re afraid.” Other cards remind you how special a simple kiss is like the New Years card that reads: “My lips eagerly await your New Years Kiss,” whenever it may be. Some are interactive to distract a solider during the hurry up and wait of military life. There are word puzzles, connect the dot secret messages, and even a mad-lib card where you can fill in your wildest dreams about your distant loved one. For each occasion and every sentiment, it is clear Susie’s cards come from a place of intimate understanding of military life.

Customer feedback puts meaning into Susie’s work. One woman wrote that her husband was going on his fourth deployment, but she was more excited to write him because she knew Mail Call cards would bring a little joy, humor, and understanding during this difficult time. Her husband hung the “embrace the suck” card on the wall to encourage himself and his fellow soldiers. These stories show Susie her cards are so much more than paper.

My brother is in training to become an Army medic. The process is challenging and isolating and yet he stays dedicated. I found a Mail Call card for him at a Card Isle kiosk and wrote to remind him that not only do I love him, but he has the whole military community behind him. After all, every card begins because someone wants to acknowledge an experience to which they think others can relate. Reach out to your family and friends at the next level. Send a greeting card. Let them know you are thinking about them. Draw them into your shared community. Card Isle and Mail Call helped me do just that. 

Mail Call Greeting Cards available through Card Isle!