05 December 2004

Hello to all of Jay's readers and those who support him and the troops in Iraq. The "Wife Waiting At Home" Is At It Again. As I read Jay's last blog it brought tears to my eyes! I sometimes forget how hard it is on him to be away from us on special occasions, especially this time of year, with some of the kids and grandkids getting ready to make the journey home for Christmas, the decorating and planning. He's so busy it sometimes seems if there is just no time for us in his world. This was just a reminder to me that no matter where he is or what he's doing, when he has the time he's thinking of us.

So.....

Here's to my soldier who's so far away....I love you more and more with each and every passing day. Stay Safe And Come Home To Us Soon!

My Special Soldier

The world may look upon him as just being a man.
Who'll never do anything, but the best he can.
To look at him through my eyes, you'd see,
Someone truly "GREAT!"
Someone to admire, to trust and appreciate.
He's someone to reach out to, whenever there's a need.
Someone who gives so much more,
More than he will ever receive.
He's someone who can make you feel happy,
even when you're blue.
Someone who can make you feel like you are very special too!
He's someone with reassuring words, whenever there's a doubt.
Whenever you're in trouble, he'll be there to help you out.
He's someone who can put all your faults aside.
And always look at you, with eyes so full of pride.
He's someone who will cheer you, whenever things go bad,

And even dry your tears when you're sad.
He's the love of my life,

And I'm his military wife.

Here is a small look into one military family's life.

This is not the first Thanksgiving or Christmas we have been or will be separated.

We as a military career family don't dwell on this, we just make the ones when we are together as special as possible. Twenty-five years in the Army, we have had Christmas around the world, let me give you a glance into the "Weirdest", "Worst" and the "Wackiest" Christmases we have had.

The "Weirdest" was spending Christmas in Panama, I'm a country girl from NC and we don't go Christmas shopping in shorts, t-shirts and sandals (well, I guess there maybe some people from my home town that may try it!) And never to the beach swimming for the day, however the kids respectively ages 10, 8, 5 and 1 loved it. So.... hot, humid and palm trees was the weirdest.

The "worst" was the Christmas when Jay was in Macedonia and the 3 kids left at home with me defected back to the US from Germany at the last minute to spend the holidays with their dad (also military). I was all alone, this was the worst Christmas in my life!

The "Wackiest" was the Christmas of 2002 Jay asked me what I wanted and I told him "I want all the kids and grand kids with me this year." It had been about 5 years since we were all together, with us being in Germany for 3 years, then being stationed at Ft. Hood, the girls getting married and moving to different states, one in NC at Ft Bragg, one in VA and my oldest son living with his Dad and about to join the Army I knew this would be the last Christmas for a long time we would all be together.

So we packed up the van with all the presents, luggage, the dog and he human garbage disposal and off to my daughters in NC we went, for 2 weeks! Now mind you I like my son-in-law, but he and I clash like the Titans, they were living in a 2 bedroom condo, a tree that was about as big as the living room, a kitchen the size of a hallway and a "dining room" where the table was the center point and when I say this the "table" was the room..LOL..

Well, needless to say we were packed in this condo like sardines in a can. Nine of us and this included a 3 yr old a 5 yr old and 2 dogs, all one big happy family! OH YEAH..right! One TV, one PS2, and ONE REMOTE to which my son-in-law kept really close. The only thing not being fought over was the bathroom, since there were two of these.

Sleeping was the funniest, the boys sleeping on the couches and Jay and I on an air mattress in the living room. NO sleeping here, the boys were up half the night watching movies or playing PS2 (since my son-in-law was asleep) and the rest of the family was up at what seemed the crack of dawn, (before 8 am).

Christmas Day was a blast! There was so much wrapping paper, ribbon and boxes, you could hardly find a present...

So this was the "wackiest, warmest and best Christmas" Needless to say from now on, we will be having Family Christmases at "My" house where there is plenty of room and more than 1 TV!

Sorry this was so long, so thank you for reading about our little part of military Christmas life.

If you would like to read more about us and our daily life, back here at home "Waiting For News From Baghdad" here is my Blog spot.. http://athomewaiting4mysoldier.blogspot.com/ . I will be posting pics of the family and keeping the family up to date on things going on here at home.

May God Bless You All..