Tax day — April 15 — was looming when an elderly woman showed up at the IRS. She said she required a thick stack of tax forms. “Why so many?” the clerk asked.

“My son is stationed overseas,” she said. “He asked me to pick up forms for the Marines on the base.”

“You shouldn’t have to do this,” the clerk told her. “It’s the base commander’s job to make sure that his troops have access to the forms they need.”

“I know,” said the woman. “I’m the base commander’s mother.”