AK_Chappy
Lieutenant
- Joined
- May 25, 2003
- Messages
- 1,357
My Mom sent this to me. I like it!!!<br /><br />A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS<br /> <br />The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light, <br /> <br />I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight. <br /><br /> <br />My wife was asleep, her head on my chest, <br /> <br />My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.<br /> <br /> <br />Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white, <br /> <br />Transforming the yard to a winter delight.<br /><br /> <br />The sparkling lights in the tree I believe, <br /> <br />Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.<br /> <br /> <br />My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep, <br /> <br />Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.<br /> <br />In perfect contentment, or so it would seem, <br /> <br />So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.<br /> <br /> <br />The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near, <br /> <br />But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.<br /> <br />Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, <br /> <br />Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.<br /> <br /> <br />My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear, <br /> <br />And I crept to the door just to see who was near.<br /> <br />Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night, <br /> <br />A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.<br /> <br /> <br />A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old, <br /> <br />Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.<br /> <br />Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled, <br /> <br />Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.<br /> <br /> <br />"What are you doing?" I asked without fear, <br /> <br />"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!<br /> <br />Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve, <br /> <br />You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"<br /> <br /> <br />For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift, <br /> <br />Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..<br /> <br />To the window that danced with a warm fire's light <br /> <br />Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,<br /> <br />I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."<br /> <br /> <br />"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line, <br /> <br />That separates you from the darkest of times. <br /> <br />No one had to ask or beg or implore me, <br /> <br />I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.<br /> <br /> <br />My Gramps died at 'Pearl on a day in December," <br /> <br />Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."<br /><br /> <br />My dad stood his watch in the jungles of 'Nam', <br /> <br />And now it is my turn and so, here I am."<br /> <br /> <br />"I've not seen my own son in more than a while, <br /> <br />But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile."<br /><br /> <br />Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag, <br /> <br />The red, white, and blue... an American flag.<br /> <br /> <br />"I can live through the cold and the being alone, <br /> <br />Away from my family, my house and my home.<br /><br /> <br />I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet, <br /> <br />I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat."<br /> <br /> <br />"I can carry the weight of killing another, <br /> <br />Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..<br /><br /> <br />Who stand at the front against any and all, <br /> <br />To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall.<br /> <br /> <br />"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright, <br /> <br />Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."<br /><br /> <br />"But isn't there something I can do, at the least, <br /> <br />"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast? <br /> <br /> <br />It seems all too little for all that you've done, <br /> <br />For being away from your wife and your son."<br /> <br />Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret, <br /> <br />"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.<br /> <br /> <br />To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone, <br /> <br />To stand your own watch, no matter how long.<br /><br /> <br />For when we come home, either standing or dead, <br /> <br />To know you remember we fought and we bled.<br /> <br />Is payment enough, and with that we will trust, <br /> <br />That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."<br /><br /> <br /><br />WE ALL NEED TO PRAY FOR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL EVERY NIGHT!<br /><br /><br />AK Chappy
