An Appreciation

I pray to God that the day will never come when I will no longer enjoy and appreciate the privilege of being alive. If I have learned nothing more except appreciation during my 25 months overseas then my time has been profitably spent.

When the weather gets cold and winter grips the land I want to remember the days and months I longed for a change of seasons. Every season is beautiful now. Winter with its Christmas spirit, snow, sleigh parties, skiing, basketball games, long cold nights around the fireplace, and the beautiful scenes which winter brings. Spring with the birds and flowers. Vacations, spring planting, the buds breaking and blossom time, the smell of the air on a spring morning. Spring should give everyone a new lease on life. Summertime with the canyon parties, wienie roasts, watermelon busts, summer vacations, beach parties, the thrill of a drive through the mountains on a hot summer day. Then my favorite - autumn - Indian summer time. Nothing like the football season, the smell of the autumn air, Halloween time, Thanksgiving time, the leaves turning and the crisp cold autumn air early in the morning.

Help me remember what the good food we have at home means. When I forget how lucky I am help me remember the days in Hollandia when we had bully beef three times a day, dehydrated spuds, dehydrated eggs, and nothing but nasty water and hot coffee, no matter how hot the weather. Help me remember the times we sat and talked of a good meal at home, of a milk shake, a chocolate malted milk, or just a glass of milk, or of eating fresh fruit again, grapes, applies, pears, oranges, and vegetables again. I hope I can always appreciate a good hamburger with chips or french fries, all the things I haven't had for so long.

Help me appreciate the friends at home. I want to remember the office gang, FEAF headquarters, particularly the petty jealousies, and all those things that made life unbearable, the PX, the mess hall, the filthy 22nd Replacement Depot, waiting for the movies.

Help me remember the heat rash, how I suffered with the miserable heartburn, the cankers that hospitalized me, the diarrhea, the impetigo that covers me and spreads so fast, and the unbearable heat. May I always appreciate my health to the fullest. If my time overseas has been unpleasant it has nevertheless been an experience I would never trade for a million dollars, for I have acquired a sense of values and an appreciation of life that I never had before. I hope I shall always be able to remember my experiences and use them to the best advantage.

Sunday, 11 November, 1945