My family and I used to spend a lot of time transforming our home into a little winter wonderland. My dad became a master over the years at decorating outside, complete with a mini-manger scene and the occasional penguins skating on a pond of Plexiglas. He would recruit any one of us to help in the transformation outdoors. However, it was the decorating inside of our home that always held my attention.
We’d always pull down huge totes full of Christmas supplies. My earliest memories of Christmas involve my parents pulling out each of ornaments, calling our name so we could claim our little ornaments to hang on the tree. We always ooh and ahhed over the same ones. The Santa Clause head or the ornament my dad made when he was a wee little fella. I remember heeding my mom’s instructions to ‘put the ugly ones’ on the back of the tree, and being slightly offended when the ugly ornament in question was a gobble of sparkle and glue that I had made what feels like ages ago. After delicately positioning each ornament into its new home, we would gather around and sing Silent Night for a video camera, swaying as we sang a bit off key.
In the last couple of years, we’ve stopped putting everything up, running out of room to hang jingle bells and shelves to put lopsided snowmen on that Josh had created in 4th grade. As Darcie and Matt moved out of the house, the whole tradition of everything kind of started to dwindle. Our lives started picking up and it started being a struggle to find a time that didn’t conflict with everyone’s schedules. It’s hard to slow down time for a growing family of 6. And that’s ok, because after all, it’s not about the twinkling bulbs, the lopsided Santas or even the ornaments. It’s about what’s left when all of that is packaged away again until next year.
I look around at the cubicles in my office, each trying to recreate a semblance of home. If I pop my head over my cubicle block, I see a sea of tinsel, multicolored lights and stockings. It’s quite a tribute to the holiday spirit. Most, if not all, of the supplies came from around the United States as people took the time to slow down and think of someone other than themselves, a great foundation of holiday spirit. And while decorating our cubicles doesn’t completely emulate those memories we have of home, it is awfully nice to try and get close.
Unfortunately, for many soldiers, Christmas is just another day of work. It’s not as if it’s not recognized that it is a holiday, but it’s just hard to celebrate when there is still a job that needs to be done. Some sections have afforded their soldiers a partial day off, but the mission continues to drive on in their absence. And while as kids (even maybe as adults), the most exciting thing was to wake up and find that Santa Clause had come and gone and left in his wake a slew of presents. For most here, the most exciting thing will be marking another day off of their calendars. It’s another day done, and only a handful more to go.
That’s not to say that I still won’t cling to a bit of normalcy… Tonight I have grand plans of attending Christmas Mass at the chapel here on post. And tomorrow I’ll be spending Christmas Day dinner with my family away from family. It’s not easy being away for the holidays, but forming a little family like ours here in Iraq definitely makes it a bit easier.
I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. Take the time to slow down for a moment and immerse yourself in the holiday spirit. This kind of reminds me of a quote my mom and dad have on their bedroom wall at the cabin “Just breathe. You will never live this moment again.”
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