Day 24 - Half Day Hammock

On Christmas Eve here in Iraq, many people are looking for the day to come to an end. The majority of the personnel here have time off today and will probably have most of Christmas off as well. My plans for the day included sleeping in late, going to eat, working out, and calling friends and family back home once midnight struck here.

Most of my afternoon was spent alone in the hammock out on our patio. Supported by two trees above a pile of sand, I lay there reading a book that I received in a care package a few day prior. Psalm 91, which breaks down each verse of the chapter and goes into detail about how everyone is protected against every form of evil. Being deployed to Iraq, there are several different forms of evil that we can face here. Knowing that we are always protected against everything makes the days go by a lot smoother.

After sitting in the hammock for several hours, I decided to go into the office to make several calls back home. Earlier in the day during lunch, I was given several phone cards from Senior NCOs as Christmas gifts. It would not be long before I was putting them to good use. The first person on my list to call – my mother.

After getting through the operator, my mother answered the phone. Before I even had a chance to say hello, she knew it was me. A tradition my family has had for several years has been getting together on Christmas Eve to spend time together. There were several aunts and cousins there. As she yelled to the crowd telling them I was on the phone, I head a multitude of shouts from family wishing me a Merry Christmas. Stepping into a separate room, we chatted for about an hour, checking up on each other to see how things were going. During the middle of the conversation, she accidentally three-way called my brother. We spoke briefly before he had to go. My mother and I talked for a few more minutes before I got off the phone.

The next person on my list to call was my grandparents. Since being deployed, I had not spoken to them over the phone. After sending them a holiday card in the mail, she later sent me a letter from her and my grandfather. That was the extent of our conversations for the two months I had been gone. We talked about how this holiday season was the first time I’d ever missed both Thanksgiving and Christmas. She promised to send me the aromas of her cooking in a sealed envelop so I would not miss out on the great home-cooked meals. Speaking to my grandfather who is retired Army, he continually reminded me to keep my head down, pray, and make it home safely.

By the time I had gotten off the phone with them, it was after 2am in the morning… Christmas morning. After checking my email one last time, I called it a night, wishing all the other warriors who were still in the office making calls home as well a Merry Christmas.

Half days are very rare here in Iraq. Though we celebrate a holiday, evil never takes a day off. Though Christmas was only a few hours old, events were still occurring in my area of operations (AOR) that required attention. For some, they would not be able to enjoy these first few hours as there was work to be done. For me, I would remember my half day I spent in the hammock, making phone calls home. The next morning, I planned to sleep in.