Skip to main content

A Military Christmas


A Military Christmas Story
By CH (CPT) John L. Craven
“Nighthawk Shepherd”

The typical family is pulling out Christmas decorations just as soon as the turkey leftovers are being put up from Thanksgiving. The calendar is filled with rituals and routines that could be decades old. The route from Grandma’s house to the downtown lighting of the town Christmas Tree is streamlined to the minute, in hopes to optimize Daddy’s time to watch every Bowl game in High Definition.
Please note: That is typical. BUT….for everyone who wears the uniform or has a family member who does…the TYPICALLY ain’t TOO TYPICAL. This year my wife and I took the Christmas tree box out November 12th. We made the ever evolving schedule to visit our families 1700 miles away. We filled out two sets of LEAVE FORMS as we tried to buy the cheapest tickets home. We have reserved the Kennel for our dog, …which makes us all sad to leave behind. Not to mention, the opening of presents??? Do you open them before the trip or after??
The military family has challenges that most families will never see. These sacrifices are rarely mentioned at Veteran’s Day events or other honoring events. Yet,…How does your family make these otherwise CRAZY events enjoyable for your family? How do you turn these chaotic travels into a good memory? The key is CREATIVITY and RELATIONSHIP.
Some Ideas:
1.       On your Christmas Tree Box, sign and date the location of this Christmas. (i.e. Baumholder Germany 2010, …etc.) This looks pretty cool when your kids write it too!!
2.       Pick a day during the Holidays and make it a family-centric event. Go see the lights at BLORA. Bring some Hot Chocolate or Coffee.
3.       Buy Ornaments from that DUTY STATION or LOCATION, don’t forget to date them.
4.       Take Holiday pictures, take tons of them. Make a digital book online for that year.
5.       Have a Holiday Party at your house. Be a host, and invite your closer friends over for a grill out and maybe present exchange. Some of your work buddies might really like to see you with the ACU’s.
6.       Adopted a single soldier and make sure they have a ‘family’ here. Buy them a Itunes card. (Never a bad deal)
When it all is said and done, we must make these years enjoyable. Don’t wait till 10-15 years down the road to start making memories …START NOW.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 68, A Landmark Day.

About 365 days ago, I was sitting at FOB Falcon in Baghdad, Iraq working of filling out one of the first forms in our adoption. I remember walking to the Chow hall talking to some guys trying to explain that Jessica and I had finally made the first real decision and now it was going to be a long haul before we see some major results. Not to get your hopes up, we did not get a child just yet, but we are definitely at a point in the adoption that needs some celebration. At 0800 this morning, our profile is officially posted at our Adoption Agency Web site, which is where mothers can view our family profile. This sets into motion a major thing for us. For right now, this very hour, we could be receiving a phone call that would revolutionize our family. Within a short period of time today to about 4 months (estimate) we should be matched and possibly flying back to the states to hold the new Craven. How cool is that? Celebrate with us. Also join us in beginning to pray for Jessic
5 comments
Read more

Day 54, Jenny McCarthy Kick My Butt Tonight.

As many of you may know, we Army soldiers are fit and rugged and can't be stomped into the ground by anyone who doesn't have a Ranger Tab. I mean, seriously, I wake up,...go do PT at 6:30 for 1 hour, then typically after work run 4 miles just to stay fit for the fight that keeps us safe. ((Doesn't hurt to look good for the gal at home either)). Yet, this evening, instead of going for my run, I dawned my PT's and turned on our Wii to try a new exercise system we got called, "Your Shape". Its simple. A video camera captures you on one window, Jenny McCarthy Avatar barks orders at you on the left window. While the exercises is happening, a constant feed on how you are doing is being sent in through the feed on the camera. I thought it sound preposterous and decided to show this system what a 34 year old, United States Army Captain can do. Choosing Advanced, Cardio, 30 minutes. I put the controller down and started the program. NOW...before I continue. God speaks
3 comments
Read more

Day 69, Blog Wars of 2010, Craven vs. Craven.

I have had a great number of entries to the blogger thus far and feel that I am getting a little more adventurous in my writing. I have just about set a precedence of daily, leisurely, and thoughtful blogs. A good bit of daily hits... Yet, as most of you know, Jessica has just entered the same arena. I showed her around and then just like Wesley stealing the show from Whitfield, Jessica has decided to strategically steal the lime light. Here's what I have seen in her demise to destroy my empire: I noticed her pulling out blogger maps of recent bloggers. She is constantly trying to foil my writing by bringing me desserts just as I started writing. I also notice her constantly trying to 'be nice' to me when I settled down with a pen and paper to plot my course. The other day I knew something was odd, when she said 'Do you want to play your video games tonight?'...that's just not normal.  After helping her out with the backdrop and HMTL, I figured we had an allia
5 comments
Read more