Things that I enjoy...

I was very inspired by my wife's blog. (www.mcmullin411.blogspot.com) She is a very talented writer and does a good job of communicating what she is thinking. Reading her post about her "Favorite Things" made me remember a Thanksgiving holiday several years ago. Sarah and I were newlyweds and trying to find our way in this world. We were living in our first apartment, a small 2 bedroom deal. Our furniture was stuff we pulled out of someone's dumpster and Sarah was still learning how to cook. We were living month to month on student loans and our jobs. At the time it was not a whole lot of fun but in retrospect that was priceless. I am sure that many readers have been in similar circumstances. We decided to play the "Thankful Game" where we took turns naming all of the things that we were thankful for. It began as the usual things and gradually degenerated into silliness.

Being here in Afghanistan has made me reconsider the "Grateful Game" to an even greater degree. I have been in Bagram for the past week. During this time, I grew so tired of listening to the soldiers, and airmen (mostly the airmen) complaining about their hard lot in life. Having to be deployed to Bagram. Their complaints ranged from the food, the showers, the dormitories, the weather, the gyms, the crowding, the noise, having to work to long, you name it, they complained about it. It was in stark contrast to being down in Delaram with the Marines. Now you have to understand that there is nobody who embraces suffering and pain more so than the Marines. It is amazing how egocentric we become and see our own lives as such challenges that we forget about the challenges that others face on a daily basis, without the hope of some better future.

I am afraid that I will have little patience for people who complain about the unfairness of life in America. About how they are owed money, or a job, or health care or any other entitlement from the government. Just by virtue of being born in the United States of America they have more opportunity than 95% of the rest of the world. Even with social hardships, family challenges and poverty. There are few people who have the same level of poverty as a middle class afghani. How do we take for granted these opportunities? Or how do we as a people squander them?

I was intrigued by an article in the Boston Globe about surgeons from the great ivory towers of medicine that are going to Haiti to help with the medical efforts. They describe these high and mighty department chiefs and chairmen, working in a tent, having limited supplies and having to make life and death decisions. Operating with malfunctioning equipment and poor conditions, as if it is some grand sacrifice for them to not have a MRI or CT scanner. In my mind I can't help but think of the hundreds of surgeons who have been doing this for the past 9 years in remote areas of Iraq and Afghanistan.

So here goes with my list:

1) I have to say my family. You never know what you have until you loose it. Deployment has taught me that the most valuable things in my life are my wife and kids.

2) I love the way Sarah smiles at me. It is so full of love, passion and joy. Just to see her smile brings a sense of calm in me. Without words, it tells me that she loves me, supports me and will walk with me to the end of the world and beyond.

3) Sydney... My love affair with Syd started on the day she was born. When I held her I was taken and captured by her eyes and charm.

4) Ainsley... Ainsley is like looking into a mirror and seeing what I enjoy most about life. She has a future that has no ceiling, with her desire and passion.

5) Zachary, he is my little man. Parents life their lives through their children and yes I think I am just as guilty. He has such a kind and gentle heart.

6) Audrey, she is my little panda bear. Enough said.

7) I love to go duck hunting. I love sitting in a blind watching Jack (my dog) play in the water. I love the sound of wings, whooshing overhead and the adrenaline rush and anticipation. I love the cold mornings and sunrises, clouded by thousands of geese launching into the air creating a roar that can be heard for miles.

8) I love Texas A&M and Aggie football. It gives me something completely visceral to be passionate about. Where I can yell as loud as I want and no one cares. I also like kissing my date at the games, and the more kissing, the better the outcome of the game!

9) I love operating. There are few other relationships as sacred as the relationship between a patient and the surgeon. In my mind, the human body is the ultimate testament to the glory and craftsmanship of God. It makes me shrink in awe to be able to explore the body an learn it's inner workings.

10) I love St Arnold's Rootbeer. I have never drank an alcoholic beverage in my life. St Arnold's rootbeer is just wonderful and even better when the factor sends me 2 cases to share with my team. Right now I am looking at the bottle I saved to drink on my last night here at Shank.

11) I love my sister's music.

12) I love weight lifting. It makes me feel strong and powerful.

13) I love running, after I am done running. While I am running I hate it and want it to stop. But after I am done, I love the way I feel. It is this thought that pushes me through the hate.

14) I love watching little kids open Christmas presents. The anticipation fills the air with electricity and energy. It makes me feel young.

15) I love the feeling from lifting up in the air while in a helicopter. This first time I rode in a helicopter was coming from Bagram to Shank and it was amazing.

16) I love ice cream with big chunks of brownie, cookie, cake or anything else. This is my great, and tragic weakness.

17) I love attending my wife's sunday school classes. She puts so much effort and energy into teaching you can feel her love of the subject.

18) I have learned to love and appreciate: In door plumbing, hot showers, good food, food with taste, the touch of another human, beautiful desert sunsets, cold desert nights and the stars. I cannot express how much I love living in a planetarium. Here I can see the Milky Way Galaxy extend from one horizon to another with more stars than I ever could have imagined to exist.