Karen's Blog: Happy New Year!!

I'm sitting here trying to keep myself awake to go meet a plane that's coming in at 1:35 in the morning!! So, I thought I'd update my blog...

Christmas and New Year's have come and gone here at Fort Campbell and both were fun. I put some pretty tacky garland up in my room and celebrated Christmas here! A plane came in about 6:30 Christmas morning, and it was really a special experience to be with those soldiers and their families as they came home on Christmas. (Some of them didn't have anybody to welcome them home, though, which was sad to see. We make an extra effort to talk to those soldiers). We passed out Christmas cards that some school kids from Alabama had sent for the troops, so we got to talk to lots of family members before the plane landed. They were so excited to get their soldiers home for the holidays. There were lots of emotions in the hangar that morning! Santa Claus even made a surprise visit! And, one of the coolest things I've seen since I've been here...as the plane taxied in, the pilot was flying an American flag out of the cockpit window! Talk about being swept up with patriotism!

Brian came up here on Christmas Eve and stayed through that Sunday. A group of us ate breakfast at I-Hop after the plane on Christmas and then went to a movie that afternoon. It was different not being with the family, but we had a good time here. And, it gave me a sense of how our troops feel when they can't go home for special occasions.

Angela, who came in with Cynthia after Melinda left, is from Destin and is only 33 so we've been hanging out some. Her fiancee came in for New Year's, and they graciously let me hang out with them! She and I have been doing a lot of things together on post...hanging out with some of the soldiers at the Rec Center, going to different spots on post to spread the word about what we do, sitting together at our table at the PX, etc. She's going with me to the plane that's coming in later...since we're the "young ones" we got volunteered for that one! The good news is that we don't have to work much tomorrow!

I can't believe I only have a couple more weeks left here. I've really enjoyed being here and the work that I've been doing. It's hard to describe what things are like here and even what we do every day, but it just feels neat to be part of it. The more soldiers and family members that I talk with and the more stories I hear, I realize a little bit more just what they go through to protect us.

We've got several more planes coming in this week (and thankfully, they're not all in the middle of the night!), and I'm also doing some walk-ins and going to a few meetings on post to tell different groups about our services.

Hope my updates aren't too boring!! Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks...