Brownwood News wanted to give thanks to our military families for their service this Christmas. They give us a great gift each year they serve, Freedom… A couple of families submitted stories we wanted to share this Christmas with you.
Below is an email I received from a military wife, Crystal Hanson.
“My name is Crystal Hanson, my husband, Chris, is currently an active duty soldier. I am aware of how difficult it is to have your soldier away for Christmas. It is difficult and lonely for the spouse and Christmas isn’t the same for the kids without daddy, or in some cases, mommy, at home. But my story is a little different. I have a happy one. Though my husband has been to Iraq twice, the Christmas memory that we like to remember is from his first deployment.Chris deployed to Iraq in February 2003 with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault!) out of Ft. Campbell, Ky. We were fully aware that this deployment would be for an entire year. There were not even rumors of R&R leave being offered. The U.S. was going to war and that was that. We hoped he would be home in February 2004. Our sons were 6 and just under 2 when Chris deployed, and of course they were devastated when he left.
The year was progressing as expected. We all adjusted to Chris being gone. Christmas was a week away when I received an unexpected telephone call from Chris while I was at work. He began by asking me to sit down, which made me begin to shake; I was terrified that something had happened and that he was hurt. He laughed at my panic and told me that his name had unexpectedly come up on the new R&R list. He was scheduled to land in Nashville Christmas Eve after a brief layover in Atlanta.
I refused to tell our children until I was positive Chris would be home. I didn’t want their hearts to be broken if daddy wasn’t able to get home. Chris called the day before he was supposed to leave Iraq en-route to the good ol’ U.S. of A. to let me know his flight had been delayed and he’d probably be home on Christmas Day. I was sad, of course, but I’d gladly wait a day if I could just see him, if he could just come home for a week, or at that point, we would have been grateful for a day!
Christmas Day came and the telephone rang at 5:30 in the morning. Chris was on the other end and he was in Atlanta! He was 5 hours (driving time) away from us! But the flights were full. People were trying to get home to see their loved ones for Christmas and there were no seats available from Atlanta to Nashville. I jumped up and said that I’d wake the kids, who at that time were 7 and nearly 3, and we would pick him up in Atlanta in a few hours.
We got off the phone; I woke the kids, and read them a note that Santa left them asking them to get dressed and not open any gifts. Santa had a special gift that wouldn’t fit under the tree, so they needed to listen to their mommy and go for a ride. Needless to say, two very excited boys moved very quickly that morning.
Chris called back a few minutes before we left the house and said that a gentleman on the next Nashville flight had given his seat to Chris so he could see his children for Christmas. This kind man gave up his seat so we could all be together. I don’t know if he ever knew how much that meant to all of us. We had not seen Chris in 10 months!
Needless to say, just over an hour later, we arrived at the Nashville airport. My boys were looking for a huge box that wouldn’t fit under the tree when their daddy came around the corner. I’ll never forget what my youngest son said: “Daddy? What are you doing here? Did Santa bring you?”
We had a wonderful two weeks together. We spent some much needed, and much missed, family time. We enjoyed every second we had together. And then we put him back on a plane with lots of tears, lots of hugs, and countless prayers for a safe return.
Eventually, he came home and has deployed one more time. But he is now safely at home and we are blessed that we are all together for Christmas. Every Christmas morning since 2003 Chris and I smile and remember the surprise on our boys’ faces when they saw him. We smile when we remember how fortunate we were to have that Christmas together, and we smile because we are able to have Christmas with the ones we love.
Merry Christmas.
Crystal Hanson”
