Father's Day 2007

Father's Day in Iraq, again. Today actually wasn't bad. Due to a scheduling quirk, I got the day off from mission even though most of my guys went out. So I had a few precious hours of peace and quiet. And we even got a Father's Day dinner, provided by the Outback Steakhouse company. I never heard if they had some sort of promotion going back home, or if Outback has a lot of guys serving in the military. But they took over the chow hall last night and served good steaks, baked potatoes, and even their famous blooming onions. A very nice surprise indeed.
But today makes me 0 for 6 in being home on Father's Day. Since my son was born, I've spent one in Kosovo, two in Iraq, and the other three on annual training. It's a running inside joke between my wife and I that one of these years I will actually manage to be home on the day, and I will want to collect a decade's worth of pampering all at once. Honestly, I don't put too much mental effort into what is more than likely a Hallmark holiday, designed and promoted to sell more greeting cards. But I hope when my kids one day look back and think about me not having been home much when they were young, they understand that living in America is a blessing, one that you can spend your whole life trying to repay.