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