A Toast

About four months ago I was taking a long plane ride from Kuwait back to America.  My year-long deployment was finally over.  I had a lot of time to think on that trip home, and at one point I was picturing what it was going to be like to be reunited with all the friends I’d left behind for the year.  I pictured it probably just as you might, like a scene out of a movie – there we all are at some local pub, enjoying ice cold beers and slaps on the back and ribbing each other about this and that; lots of laughter and celebration.  The “war hero” is finally home, and he made it back safe and sound – he served his country with honor.

That big celebration didn’t happen, and I’m savvy enough to understand why.  There is a lot of cynicism regarding our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and there has been from the beginning.  Very few Americans feel compelled to throw a ticker tape parade for our last ten years in the Middle East.  People have too many questions – too many reservations – about what the last decade has meant to want to hoist a soldier or sailor on their shoulders and parade them around the bar.  Frankly, I share some of that cynicism and would feel uncomfortable being welcomed back in such a high-spirited manner.

But as I sat on that plane picturing the Hollywood homecoming, I imagined a moment where someone might have given me the floor to share whatever thoughts I might have in light of my experience overseas, and this is what I heard myself saying:

“I was away for over a year from the two people who mean everything in the world to me – my two boys.  That was a long haul, and I’m glad it’s over.

“I would like to encourage anyone in this room who feels a certain cynicism toward what America is doing in the world lately...to not lose that cynicism.  It’s good to be skeptical; it’s good to question things.  It is necessary and healthy.

“I was also reminded while over there how important it is to have a sense of humor.  This helps to keep you and your friends from going insane.

“And I was reminded that, when all is said and done, the only thing we really have in this world that is worth anything is love.

“So, a toast: to a healthy cynicism, a sense of humor, and love.”

That’s what I would have wanted to say; that’s what I brought back from the desert.  The central theme of this blog is freedom.  You might be wondering what this post has to do with freedom.  I don’t know.  Maybe nothing; maybe everything.