The Sands of Christmas

The Sands of Christmas

I had no Christmas spirit when I breathed a weary sigh,
and looked across the table where the bills were piled too high.
The laundry wasn't finished and the car I had to fix,
My stocks were down another point, the Dolphins lost by six.

And so with only minutes till my son got home from school
I gave up on the drudgery and grabbed a wooden stool.
The burdens that I carried were about all I could take,
and so I flipped the TV on to catch a little break.

I came upon a desert scene in shades of tan and rust,
No snowflakes hung upon the wind, just clouds of swirling dust.
And where the reindeer should have stood before a laden sleigh,
eight hummers ran a column right behind an M1A.

A group of boys walked past the tank, not one was past his teens,
Their eyes were hard as polished flint, their faces drawn and lean.
They walked the street in armor with their rifles shouldered tight,
their dearest wish for Christmas, just to have a silent night.
Soldiers in sand
Other soldiers gathered, hunkered down against the wind,
To share a scrap of mail and dreams of going home again.
There wasn't much at all to put their lonely hearts at ease,
They had no Christmas turkey, just a pack of MREs.

They didn't have a garland or a stocking I could see,
They didn't need an ornament-- they lacked a Christmas Tree.
They didn’t have a present even though it was tradition,
the only boxes I could see were labled "ammunition."

I felt a little tug and found my son now by my side,
He asked me what it was I feared, and why it was I cried.
I swept him up into my arms and held him oh so near
and kissed him on the forehead as I whispered in his ear.

There’s nothing wrong my little son, for safe we sleep tonight,
our heroes stand on foreign land to give us all the right,
to worry on the things in life that mean nothing at all,
instead of wondering if we will be the next to fall.

He looked at me as children do and said its always right,
to thank the ones who help us and perhaps that we should write.
And so we pushed aside the bills and sat to draft a note,
to thank the many far from home, and this is what we wrote:

God Bless You all and keep you safe, and speed your way back home.
Remember that we love you so, and that you’re not alone.
The gift you give you share with all, a present every day,
You give the gift of liberty and that we can’t repay.

I love stories like this!

Dallas Man Gives Away $5,000 to Servicemen

Dec 22, 6:53 AM (ET)

KILLEEN, Texas (AP) - A real-estate developer carrying a sign that read "grateful citizen" passed out $5,000 in $20 bills Wednesday to members of the military and their families.

"I just want to say thank you for your service," Jim Johnson, of Dallas, told the recipients as he shook their hands in a Wal-Mart store in Killeen. "We're safe and secure because of you."

Johnson said in a story in Thursday's Killeen Daily Herald that he and his son Matt drove from Dallas with the hope of meeting as many soldiers as possible. He said Killeen, which is home to Fort Hood, seemed like an obvious choice for finding soldiers and their families.

Killeen is about 130 miles southwest of Dallas.

Johnson held a sign that read, "Grateful citizen. You make my life possible."

Store owners gave him permission to come inside to hand out the money after he had to vacate his post on a corner near the shopping center. He handed out the money in about three hours.

At one point, he shook the hand of a timid military wife, reached into his pocket and found he was out of money, the newspaper reported. His son gave his father the last $20 bill.

Johnson said he was just trying to show some gratitude.

"We all have ways to give back to these families that don't complain and serve," Johnson said. "It's a tough life, and I'm so grateful for what they do."

He promised to come back next year and bring some friends along.

Thank a Soldier Week: Dec. 19-25

http://www.thankasoldierweek.com