The Fourth of July is tomorrow.
I started going through my library of pictures to put up something patriotic... something that reminds me of why I love my country.
I found folders full. Good and Bad reminders.
The one that makes me smile, and I need to smile, is from Veteran's Day 2009- not the 4th.
I was living on Camp Liberty (yes, snazzy comfy for a war zone standard) and my dear CHU (Containerized Housing Unit) mate's birthday was on Veteran's day.
For dinner that night, as friends of War (yes, that's his given name!), we BBQ'd, played scrabble and ate horrible, expired, defrosted, moldy cake from the PX.
I remember... I had hung my hammock between the t-walls to relax. We used stacks of water bottles and a salvaged piece of plywood for a table. The gross BBQ covered in dust was scrubbed and clean. The Baltimore Raven's blanket and cheesy cake decorations we ordered for his birthday gift arrived on time... and all was good.
Military and contractor co-workers stayed up late, played board games, talked about our families and enjoyed celebrating War and everything a decorated, honorable soldier represented.
I loved working with those people (even when I didn't like working with them *wink-wink*). It's memories of folks like War and being in a place that makes you KNOW you're unbelievably lucky to be a citizen of the United States, that make me smile on holidays like the Fourth...
(Reflective belts still make me giggle...)
Happy Birthday our United States... to many, many more
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