A light snow is falling this morning, just as you would ever hope for a Christmas morning.  But the snow is not interpreted the same here.  You could say that it is snowing 4 days after Kurban Bajram (the Muslim celebration of the story of Abraham and Issac) or that it is snowing one week before Orthodox Christmas.  This is what is called "Catholic Christmas" here.  



Last night I went to the gift exchange on base.  The turn out was somewhat small...maybe a total of 30 people, but at least 6 countries were represented (US, BH, Serbia, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, and maybe a few more I didn't see).  Several people had kids visiting and they were running about early in the evening.  That was difficult.  There was a little girl about Eden's age wearing a black velor sweater and sparklily earrings - just as I would imagine Eden would dress for such an occasion.  There was a little boy who was 2 and had huge cheeks like Carson.  I got choked up watching the little girl who looked like Eden dragging the little boy all over the place (like Eden did with Noah at Disney).

Another touching moment was when it was decided I could receive an "Any Soldier" Christmas card.  Inside it was full of stickers and stampers and the handwritten message was, "We always include YOU in our daily thoughts and prayers.  Thank you."  It really meant a lot to me.  Thank you Gary Porter for sending it.  I did not receive the outer envelope so I don't have any idea where it came from.

A damper on the evening was that the Germans did not have any gluhwein or sugared almonds.  There was a rumor that the Brits had gluhwein, but I expressed skepticism that it would be authentic.  I was assured by one of the Germans that the recipe they planned looked correct.  Another friend said, "Yeah, but they would probably expect us to drink it out of a rolled up newspaper."  Too funny.

Well, in a few hours, my guys will be headed to church and then to grandma and grandpa's to open their gifts.  I will miss so much spending the day with them at the farm.  My family didn't really have a particular tradition growing up so this is the one that I think of when I think of Christmas.  The best thing about the gathering last night was that although it was happy and we enjoyed each others' company, there was an appreciation for the fact that each of us had some place we would have rather been.  The message I came away with was you are never alone if you are willing to reach out and talk to other people.  I met another Jew and another person who grew up in Miami.  For everyone, there was an unspoken sense that it was ok to miss home and that you were not alone in that.

So if you are reading this and you are where you want to be this Christmas surrounded by exactly who you would like to be with, be ever so thankful to be that incredibly fortunate.  Nothing you can receive could ever be a greater gift.