Happy Thanksgiving Day!!!!

It is Thanksgiving Day here at Camp Patriot Kuwait. I have today off,
which I am thankful for.

In the years past around this time I have often wondered how those who
serve feel during the holidays that we hold so dear to our culture. I
know now. It is a bittersweet day here for me, because I miss my wife
and my daughter, and the rest of my family a great deal. Today the
officers that we serve under have taken a day to serve us. They serve
Thanksgiving dinner. There is nothing special about the meal itself, it
is the same turkey, the same potatoes and gravy, the same stuffing, the
same salad and vegetables that are served at other times. The
difference is in the atmosphere, the fact that everyone is wishing
everyone else a Happy Thanksgiving. Close friends are gathered around a
table together sharing their Thanksgiving dinner with one another.
Bottles of sparkling grape juice and apple juice are shared among one
another toasting to going home and seeing our loved ones, toasting to
the rest of the troops serving in more dangerous areas than Kuwait.

There is plenty of time here to be thinking. Time to think about what
is important in my life. Circumstances like these cause one to think
about what has been taken away from them for a time. Waking up with my
wife in the morning, and eating breakfast together. The morning commute
to work on the train. My coworkers, and our lunch time discussion
topics. The smile on my little girl's face that I only get to see
through pictures. These are some of the things I miss the most, but
these are the things in my life that I am most thankful for. These are
the things that are flooding my mind on this Thanksgiving Day.

It is a beautiful day out, the crisp breeze and cloudless day makes it
feel like the days of indian summer in November, back home. My wife and
I shared our first Thanksgiving together last year in my stuffy
appartment at Village in the Park. Outside it was a gray, cold and
blustery November day. The windows were frosted up due tol the humidity
in my apartment from cooking mashed potatoes and gravy, stove top
stuffing, and vegetables, and 1 kinda small turkey in the oven. I'd
never cooked a turkey before, so we had help from both of our parents.
I called my dad with questions about how to cook the turkey and Shanon
her mom with help on cooking everything else. We lounged around all day
playing Skip-Bo and enjoying our time together. It is days like that
which cause me to be thankful for everything I have.

In some ways I am thankful for this deployment. There is not much to be
thankful about and don't need to bring that up here, but what I am
thankful for is that through this time my wife and I have become closer
to each other than ever. We've had the time to develop and work on our
communication with one another, and to develop a love for one another
that can only be created when you realize how much you have and never
take it for granted. So in that way I am thankful for being here
serving my country over Thanksgiving day.

People say that Forward Alpha, the group we releived, had it really
rough. I don't doubt that, they were busy and they were the guinea pigs
for NAVELSF on how to do what we're doing. Forward Alpha is home
enjoying Thanksgiving with their family, and they will enjoy Christmas,
New Years, and Valentine's day as well. We will be here, standing the
watch, waiting for our relief to come.

I am thankful for serving with Forward Bravo, because now I know how a
servicemember feels having to serve the holidays away from home.