Those kinds of memories mean so much more when you're stuck in a military base very far away from home. Christmas for servicemen and servicewomen is the loneliest time of year, a time of great vulnerability, since there is no way to go home to be with family. Instead, the military becomes your family. I can remember standing duty over the holidays and looking at the empty Ops building and the quiet revetment area devoid of jets and personnel.

For "Always and Forever," I drew upon my own experience as a Navy meteorologist who stood Christmas duty. My Marine Corps husband, Dave, was stationed in Vietnam for sixteen months. Every day I wrestled with fear and anxiety, wondering if he was alive or dead, because he was in I Corps area out in the bush. The chance of his coming home was very slim. I waited in agony, as every military wife did, hoping I never saw two officers come up to the house to announce he was dead.

The holidays for those in the service can be brightened by letters. They were our lifeline, a godsend, a reminder of a saner, gentler, more loving world than the one we worked and lived in. Besides letters, phone calls were wonderful. And moms sending our favorite cookies and cakes, which we'd all divide among our friends in the barracks. Believe me, you have no idea how much letters mean. If you have a daughter or son in the service, keep those cards and letters going to them.

When Dave was in Vietnam, I wrote a letter to him every day. That's close to five hundred letters. They were my outlet for expressing my love-and my fears-for him and to tell him about my job and what was going on at the base. Dave later told me that he used to read and reread those letters. His buddies did, too, because not everyone got as many letters as Dave did. He admitted that they helped him keep his sanity, his hope that he'd survive.

So, dear readers, know that a lot of me, my experiences and feelings about service life are woven through the strands of "Always and Forever." Being part of the military teaches you so many valuable lessons that civilian life doesn't. I'm proud I served my country for three years. And I'm glad that Dave made it back home to me!

Merry Christmas.


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THE MYSTERIOUS GIFT by Kathleen Creighton