Ho, Ho, Ho, Now I know...

• by donr
• 2013-12-25 02:12:39
• General Posting
• 1279 views
• 5 comments

Well, this is my 78th Christmas. According to my D-i-L, I've seen three more than the average member of the 1936 cohort in the USA. Every year now is a blessing that others may not enjoy.

The 1936 cohort is dropping like flies, so I am thankful for each day I am given to enjoy with my long-suffering wife (Mary Helen) of 54 yrs. Appropriately, we were married on the 14th of June 1959 - the US Army's Birthday, where we as a family spent 28 yrs + on active duty.

Collectively, our family of in-laws, out-laws, by-laws, extended -laws of all sorts have spent nearly 150 years taking the President's penny. The thread that ties every one of us together is one short phrase in our oath of office "...to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign & domestic..." has not changed since the beginning of the Republic. Our #2 Granddaughter took that oath last July, so our thread of service continues - for how long, we do not know.

We spent Christmas in several lands & have seen many differences in tradition - Thailand, Okinawa, The US, Viet Nam, the UK, Germany.

Christmas has a special significance for Americans - The first European settlers on our shores were Christians searching for a new home where they could celebrate their religion in their own way. Many who followed were cut from the same bolt of cloth - but perhaps on the bias, as opposed to parallel to the selvage. Many others came as indentured servants, planning to work off their cost of transportation and to become free men (& women). One of the colonies (Georgia) was made up of a significant number of prisoners from debtor's prisons and the poor who were most likely headed there from England.

A close examination of our Revolution in 1776 shows a political variation among the colonists that broke along religious denomination lines. How our ancestors celebrated this season is not fully understood by current generations, but celebrate they did, each denomination in its own way.

Christmas has a special significance to those of us who wore the Army's Green. One of the key victories in our search for independence was won at Trenton, New Jersey, on Christmas night & the 26th in1776, when it was so cold that you could track the Army by the bloody footprints they left in the ice & snow. One of the worst winters in our history was spent at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in 1777.

A flash forward to 1944 found the US Army bearing the brunt of the German attack in the Ardennes and elements of the 101st Airborne Division was surrounded at Bastogne in Belgium. The atrocious weather broke on Christmas Day at allowing us to fly and finally break the siege of the 101st.

Everyone can find a significant event associated w/ this holiday date. Whether it be family or nation or church, there are those events that will be remembered throughout history as some sort of turning point.

But they all took place on one of the two great events in Christian history.

We welcome all to join us as our guests in our joy of celebration. It may not be your religious holiday, but come, join us in the spirit of celebration & hope for peace on Earth & good will to all men. Those are the hopes of all good Men, everywhere.

From Mary Helen & me - a Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it - and to those who do not, please enjoy our best wishes for a joyous day at whatever you do.

Don