Staff Sergeant Staten

Clerie called me first thing next year, and told me some good news. I bet you haven't guessed yet. Well, after celebrating the new year with a toast, everybody lined up in formation, and they had an awards ceremony. During the ceremony, someone was promoted to the rank of Staff Sergeant. I'm very excited for my sweetheart. She does an incredible job at everything she does. She'll do terrific work, I'm sure.
She's living in Camp Liberty, working in Camp Cropper. They're part of four camps we have in our complex around Baghdad International Airport. Clerie should be there for a few more days, and then they might switch things up a bit again.
Camp Cropper is much more fully staffed than Bucca. Things are much more relaxed, and the work pace is much slower. And if you know Clerie, she would just assume be busier than not. So she does whatever she can to help out, and learns what she can from the doctors at hand.
She doesn't work the crazy hours she did at Bucca. Actually, she has quite a bit of time to work out and do other things. Now if she only had the internet, then she'd have time to chat with me. Funny thing, though, her free time is my sleep time. Soon as she gets the internet, goodbye sleep. I'll have better things to do.

2008

What a year. From the start, it was a memorable year for us. We'd just had our third anniversary, and what a fun trip down memory lane that was. We got a guitar for Christmas, and Clerie learned to play some tunes. I loved having our house filled with guitar, and the most beautiful singing in the world.
Jonathan grew quickly, and learned to speak quite well during that first part of the year. He had a few phrases down.
We got wind of a deployment coming, and had to learn to deal with that emotionally. It was tough sometimes. For me it felt strange being with the person I loved, half wishing that she would just leave so she could come back sooner. But life went on despite the prospect of separation.
We celebrated Easter that year down in St. George, and Jonathan got to dye his hand at trying eggs. Well, he dyed some eggs too. He had fun searching for eggs and candy, once he figured out what was going on.
In May, Clerie left for training, and I left for Canada. Those weeks of training weren't too bad. But they made me realize that deployment was going to be hard. Canada was good, though. That was my most productive work trip so far.
We'd planned for Clerie to be gone during June too, but a day or two before the planned departure, the ARMY changed its mind, telling the soldiers that they would be gone all of July instead. This created substantial difficulty for some, but was only a minor stressor for us. In the end, we were very glad for the awesome June we had together. We went on a couple of vacations, had some extra family time, and played in the beautiful summer weather.
July came, and after we came home from our last trip, Clerie left. Training was good for Clerie. She and her friends bonded together during those few weeks, worked hard, and had a lot of fun. I was lonely. But the day came to pick her up from the airport, and we were very happy to be together again. We were surprised how quickly we got used to each other this time.
We had a great two weeks while she was home. I took some time off work. We went on a very memorable evening hike up to Lower Bells Canyon Reservoir. We just talked, and Clerie shared a quote about choosing to be happy, because there's no other good choice.
In August, she left again. Her group, mixed up with others from the unit, became diluted, and squabbles broke it up. It hasn't been as close since (although I should mention that they are still all buddies). I went to Italy, and being abroad made me miss Clerie much more. I was very glad to get home, and I squealed like a girl when Clerie surprised me by coming home two days early.
We had another good time together. We celebrated Jonathan's birthday with cars and a red box chocolate cake (as he insisted). What topped the week off, however, was a concert we went to at Thanksgiving point. The three of us - Clerie and her boys - sat together, listening to Ryan Shupe and The Rubberband.
Saying goodbye was tough. I said goodbye to her outside the hotel the ARMY reserved for them. It's tough to let go of your wife and walk away.
But we did pretty good back here. It was almost a relief to finally say goodbye, and to start counting down. What made it even better, was to suddenly decide to fly out to Washington State to see her at the end of her mobilization training. Those few days in Seattle were a dream come true. It was easier to say goodbye this time...I think. But driving away was harder. The contrast just hit me. I knew that life was good even when Clerie was gone, but for those last few days I got a taste of how much better life could be with her around. Driving away, and knowing I was leaving that and going back to "the way things are" was tough. I'd rather get the wind knocked out of me.
But I came home, and the next morning, I woke up, and it was like Seattle was just, as I said before, a beautiful dream. It was like a cherry on top of our time together this year.
Since then, we've been learning how to feel close even though we're far away. Jonathan's been learning to speak like crazy. Little boy is quite the talker. He loves to show off when his Mommy calls, and to watch her read to him on TV. I love staying up late at night, chatting with Clerie over the internet.
And during Christmas time, I felt alive again. Spending time with family, and giving Jonathan a great Christmas really made me happy. Clerie even got to have a nice Christmas morning with her friend Neil, before going to work and singing Christmas songs.
And that's the year for us. You can talk about the cold economic weather (which we have gratefully been insulated from), the elections (which we took part in with a sense of detached interest), or the other notable events of the year, but for us, the moments that we'll remember about this year were things like a hike, a concert, hugs, kisses, and goodbyes. We had some of the best times of our lives together during the months before Clerie left, and now we're making the most of our time apart.
I'm glad we said goodbye on such a high note. It sure gives us more to miss, but it also gives us more to look forward to and to work for. I feel like the richest man in the world when I think about my Clerie and my Jonathan.
Here's to the New Year. Here's to Clerie. Here's to riches that last. May we never forget what we have.