The Holidays.  Capital “T” capital “H.”  This will certainly complicate my strategy.  You see, I decided – I think sometime in July – not to celebrate any holidays this year.  Probably happened around my birthday, which I quietly withheld from friends and fellow Soldiers.  I realized that as long as I didn’t dwell on it myself, not having people make a fuss out of it really made it just like any other day.  And easier.  The strategy continued through Labor Day and Halloween, but both of those are pretty easy to gloss over.  These will be more difficult.

I made it back from leave very early in the morning on Thanksgiving day.  I had secretly hoped to spend the day waiting for a flight in Kuwait.  That would have made it all the easier to forget.  Instead, I was pulled out of my hooch and dragged to the chow hall for a passable meal.  I say passable because the food was just that, but also because the meal was missing a key element.  There were turkey and mashed potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie (mine was still a touch frozen and therefore crunchy – odd), but there was no Green Jell-o.   

Yes, Green Jell-o.  It is, has been, and forever will be a staple of any family gathering on my mom’s side of the family.  This isn’t just any old Jell-o, I assure you.  This is Grandma’s Green Jell-o.  Lime Jell-o, substitute half of the water for apple sauce, allow to set in a Bundt cake pan.  It has a consistency somewhere between canned cranberries and cake, and a color that is best described as “nuclear green.”  An old parish priest dubbed this genre of gelatinous delight, which probably includes Waterford Salad and other layered treats, “Chernobyl Jell-o.”  It’s an apt title, he’s a very smart dude.

My girlfriend hates it, but I tell her it’s an acquired taste and make her try at least a little every time.  Some of my cousins detest it as well.  I suspect they might not actually be a part of the family though.  Truth is, shortly before she died, Grandma reveled that she had never liked it herself.  That has never slowed us down though.  One of my uncles has taken the reigns and the recipe and now makes sure that we have Green Jell-o, even if we don’t have Grandma anymore.  It’s a family tradition, and those are important.

So now I face the start of the season.  Colored lights are popping up on hooches around the company area, and there are a couple of stockings hanging on doors.  I don’t think I can let this one pass.  For many of my Soldiers, this will be the first Christmas away from home and for the families the first Christmas without a mom, dad, son, daughter, brother or sister.  We’ll figure it out, we always do.  Soldiers have figured it out for centuries before us.  There will probably be a USO show, a holiday meal, maybe even some exchange of gifts.  To be sure, we will be that much closer to home.  One more milestone ticked off the list.  One more story for the grandkids:  “Did I ever tell you about the Christmas I spent in the desert?”