This week marks Halloween. As I reflect on the week I thought how perfect to write about dressing up! For Halloween pretend we are someone we are not. It is fun to dress up one day a year and let yourself be someone different then the person you are everyday. I love seeing the kids dressed up. They enjoy pretending to be a character and acting different for one day. I am lucky (although I think sometimes unlucky) enough to get to dress up every day. My costume is an Army uniform. I dress up every day and pretend to be in the Army.
Each day in Afghanistan I choose to be happy. I choose to have fun and make the very best of this year. I make memories with people I may never see again, but I am enjoying them while I can. We all are here doing our best while we miss everyone back home. While we miss everything as we serve here, at least we have each other and are making the best of every day we have together.
As part of choosing to have fun and making memories with new friends, a group of us registered for a virtual Halloween 5k. A year ago if you would have asked me about a virtual race, I may have laughed in your face. I still think they are kind of silly, but in the interest of making our own fun, I registered. Not only did I register for the Halloween 5k, I also registered for one on Thanksgiving. I could not pass up the Gloves that say “Run Now, Gobble Later.” I even went a step further and bought a 6 pack of races. There is a Marine who will leave about the same time I do, so we decided to save some money and buy 6 of them. We are not allowed to have real six-packs of fun so we went for second best and bought a running six-pack of fun!
So we traded in our Army Uniforms for Halloween dress. We met up at 8:30 on the evening of Halloween and ran laps around the camp until my Garmin read 3.1 miles. We chatted and laughed. The pace was moderate and we simply enjoyed each other’s company. Since we are not allowed to drink adult beverages, some partook in a “near-beer” and the rest of us had some Halloween Oreos. I stay away from the “near-beer.” I just don’t understand drinking a can full of calories which doesn’t go to my head. I did however have a few Oreos! Besides the amazing company while running, my favorite was the British Lieutenant Coronel who showed up as Batman. His head gear even glowed.
A Halloween post would not be complete without pictures of my babies in their costumes. Timyra insisted on being a giraffe and Timothy wanted to be The Incredible Hulk. Taylyn is recycling one of Timyra’s costumes from when she was an owl. Although I think Timyra was an owl when she was in Kindergarten not when she was 2 and half. There was room for some warm clothes under the costume. My niece Quinn is the dinosaur from Toy Story. Since my mom moved in to help with the kids, she is also watching Quinn on Wednesdays. I love that my babies get to spend one day a week with their cousin! They are making life long memories!
I may not like dressing up in my Army costume, but I have to. I have to put on a smile and green camouflage and pretend to be someone I’m not. Even though while working I have to pretend, I can still be me. I have time to call home most days, work out, and I’ve made some great friends here who make each day a lot better. I would say not only do they make it better they make it bearable!
I may start counting the days soon to my mid-deployment leave. I’m holding off counting as long as I can. I am looking forward to the day I will no longer have to dress up and I can just be me all the time. I am thankful for the people I’ve met and like a chameleon I am learning to be ok with my Army costume. When I leave, I know I will miss the friends I’ve made, but I will never miss the costume I had to wear this last year.
We all have to wear a costume from time to time that is uncomfortable and makes us someone we are not. When you have to wear your costume, wear it well, but when the time comes for you to shed that uncomfortable skin, do it! I ask though that you don’t forget what you learned while you were in costume.
Darchelle's Vacation with Uncle Sam 