Sunday, October 29, 2006
Halloween Cookies: The Story of a Soldier
My wife enjoys baking cookies. If there's a holiday coming up, she's baking. Such was the case yesterday as my wife was in the kitchen making Halloween cookies. Although, she makes great cookies, the cookies are not the story. It's what Halloween cookies have come to be associated with that I'd like to tell you about.
As my wife stood in the kitchen baking, she was reminded of the last time she made halloween cookies. They were for her brother. She made large, orange-frosted pumpkin-shaped cookies that she packaged up and sent to him. He was serving in Afghanistan at the time. Mrs. kissfan's brother is a soldier in the Army.
He had deployed to Afghanistan in April of 2005. By Halloween, his deployment was only half over. During his year there, he missed his daughter's sixteenth birthday. He missed his son's ninth. He also missed his wife's birthday and their anniversary along with every major and minor holiday between April 2005 and April 2006 when his tour of duty ended.
At the time of his deployment, he had been stationed in Germany. So when his tour ended he returned to Germany to be with his family. Shortly thereafter, he was sent back stateside and reassigned to a unit in Georgia. During the transition, he was able to stop back home and spend some time with his mother in Iowa before reporting to his unit. It was nice to know that he was back home where he was out of harm's way.
So it was somewhat bittersweet as my wife made her Halloween cookies this year because her brother deployed to Iraq this morning for another year long tour. A tour that will once again cause him to miss birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.
It's a little late to send any Halloween cookies this year, but when he gets there he's going to let us know what his address is. I'm sure he'll be receiving some of my wife's Christmas cookies.
As my wife stood in the kitchen baking, she was reminded of the last time she made halloween cookies. They were for her brother. She made large, orange-frosted pumpkin-shaped cookies that she packaged up and sent to him. He was serving in Afghanistan at the time. Mrs. kissfan's brother is a soldier in the Army.
He had deployed to Afghanistan in April of 2005. By Halloween, his deployment was only half over. During his year there, he missed his daughter's sixteenth birthday. He missed his son's ninth. He also missed his wife's birthday and their anniversary along with every major and minor holiday between April 2005 and April 2006 when his tour of duty ended.
At the time of his deployment, he had been stationed in Germany. So when his tour ended he returned to Germany to be with his family. Shortly thereafter, he was sent back stateside and reassigned to a unit in Georgia. During the transition, he was able to stop back home and spend some time with his mother in Iowa before reporting to his unit. It was nice to know that he was back home where he was out of harm's way.
So it was somewhat bittersweet as my wife made her Halloween cookies this year because her brother deployed to Iraq this morning for another year long tour. A tour that will once again cause him to miss birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays.
It's a little late to send any Halloween cookies this year, but when he gets there he's going to let us know what his address is. I'm sure he'll be receiving some of my wife's Christmas cookies.
