A peaceful Soldier's sleep...

I sit here writing you tonight as my lean, silky, too snobby to be held cat lays in the inbox watching me. He barely fits in there and his head is resting on the hard metal wire of the box which to the normal human would be quite uncomftorable; but to him seems to be the perfect spot. I'm almost envious at the peace he has as he sleeps.

I believe the only time I might have come close to that kind of peace when I slept was when Uncle Sam was training me to be a soldier. I can remember being so out of it that when I heard the loud sound of a voice yelling for me to wake up at 4 am; I would really think that I was somewhere else. When I think of it now, it's amazing that of all the times in my life, this would be the one that I had the greatest memory of sleep.

I have many memories of being a soldier and serving for my country. Memories that make me laugh, some that make me smile, and some that were just plain miserable. Since it's Veterans day, it seemed appropriate that I share a few of these things about myself that many of you, my true followers, don't know. I decided after becoming a lost and confused "college student" that just hated to go to school, that maybe it just wasn't supposed to be in the cards for me. So it happened, just like that. I withdrew from everything that I was taking in school, stopped at the recruiters office and fed myself to the wolves. A few months later, I put on my first pair of boots, started sporting a set of fatigues and walked around with U.S. Army on my chest for 8 great years.

It's quite funny now that I end that last sentence with "great" years, but I believe if you add up the good and the bad and the miserable and the sad....the end result was great. I learned a lot about myself being a soldier for Uncle Sam. I came to realize that I was capable of living without anything but a poncho and a spot of the ground to sleep on with a few already made meals that featured the Army's greatest cuisine in a ready to go package. I also realized that you "can" go a week without a shower as long as the company that you held was under the same circumstances; because nobody really smelled bad when everyone did.

There are things that we as soldiers also learn that aren't so fixable with a bit of soap and water. We learn that when you go away to a foreign land to fight and keep peace that everybody you left with doesn't always get to come home. That's one of those tough lessons...the ones that stay with you, like when you got your most peaceful sleep. It's one of those things that stays with you so long that it remains to be a reason that you lose sleep.

The amazing thing about being a soldier though, is that although seeing a fellow comrad lose a life is something that will forever interrupt our peaceful "cat in a too little endbox" sleep. It never is able to take away the way our hearts explode when we see those red stripes rise to the top of a high flag pole as the star spangled banner plays. It's never taken away our stories that we can share with our children about a time when we were part of something much bigger than ourselves...But it will forever make us want to stop and shake the hand of the soldier that for no reason but for the love of his country will get on a plane..and fly to a place..where shots sound at night..and nothing is right. And the best part of the day is when your name is said...and there's a letter thrown on your bed..from the ones that you love that worry so much...because you are too far to feel their touch..or that you might not return some day...because you've become a someone's reason that sleep won't stay...

So as you are tucked in your beds tonight, remembers there's a soldier where things aren't so right. Trying to sleep with shots all around. Wishing he was a cat not making a sound...but laying in an end box that's much too small with nothing on his mind...no nothing at all...