It's that time of year again-last-minute shopping, wrapping gifts, cramming for finals. What a lovely time of year indeed. It is a time we often take for granted. The vast majority of us are surrounded by a plethora of family members around this time, but there are some of us who won't be home for the holidays and I'm one of them.
Almost a year ago to this day, I was serving in the Army and getting prepared to spend some much needed time with family and friends that I hadn't seen in months. I was ecstatic to say the least.
I returned home to my loving family a changed person, as my time in the Army had forged me into a different version of my previous self. I left a boy and returned as a man. This may sound like a cliche, and it is, but there's more beneath the surface. I was different and no one understood it and neither did I.
I was home, but at the same time, I was away. I wasn't home for the holidays, because the holidays no longer felt like home. What was home anyway? My life as a soldier? My family and friends who didn't understand the stranger that had replaced the old me? I didn't have an answer and at the time of this writing, I still don't.
A year later and a lot has changed. I'm home for good, but still have that lingering feeling I have felt since that last holiday. I may be home, but mentally, I'm not. The holiday season hasn't felt the same in years, especially since the last one. I'm no longer excited for this time of year. It's just another day to me. Call me cynical, call me pessimistic, but whatever you call it, most people in our generation can agree: the holidays just aren't the same anymore. That doesn't have to be the case, however.
Take these upcoming days and all days afterwards to disconnect a little bit. Put down the phone, go play in the snow, go sledding, find that joy we once found as kids that made this time of year so special.
Keep the holiday spirit alive and cherish it. Hold it close not only for us, but for the generations after us and don't forget: be there for those of us who won't be home for the holidays, mentally and physically. This is when we need you the most.
