A Soldier's Christmas

The holidays are upon us once again, and though I will be in a warm house enjoying the days with family and friends, I take a moment to step back in time. I recall the days serving in the military when I couldn't make it home for the holidays and I couldn't be with the family and friends I began my life with for the first 18 years. Though my friends I served with became my new family, my second family who I would celebrate the holidays with when I couldn't come back home to New York.

Every holiday season I seem to have a flash back at sometime, a flash back of celebrating the holiday's with my friends who I served with and with my Friends who became my second family to me. I could remember having to work and perform my entry control duties on gate 4 on Arctic Warrior dr. (just up the road from our favorite Ski and Benny pizza) on Elmendorf AFB, and how other military members coming onto base would constantly drop off trays of food for us while we worked. I remember how us younger Airman would volunteer to work Christmas eve and day, so the older NCO's could spend the holidays with their kids and so we could have New Year's Eve off to party.

Though today and the the years past since I have been home, I come to realize that so many families will be without a loved one, because he or she is serving far away oversees. A spouse may be home alone, children may wonder when dad or mom that is deployed will be back to help put up the tree or to unwrap gifts with them Christmas morning and a soldier will be going on through the day like a normal work day missing his family back home. I can't complain what I have, it would be completely selfish for me to whine about something this holidays season, so I want to put the word out there to everyone who may read this. Just for a moment, forget about yourself and just think about what others may be going through this holiday season who not only are serving in the military, but all those people out there who make good in this world, yet who continue to struggle to get by.

Merry Christmas to all out there, to the men and women of the Armed Forces, to the soldier's who are oversees, to their families back home waiting for their return and to all the good people out there through out the world who are struggling to get by.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

-Steve

I leave you now with "A Soldier's Christmas Poem"