WINNING ESSAY
Wednesday, March 19th, 2008 -- 2:27 PM
A Christmas Forever In Our HeartsBy Celeste Kaufman, Fairchild
My name is Celeste Kaufman and Christmas has always been my favorite time of the year. I love the Christmas music, the white lights on our tree and the sentimental ornaments from many years of Christmas' past.
The Christmas of 2004 was our miracle Christmas.
It all started in January 2004 when our son Charles started his journey in the Army National Guard's.
He went through basic/training, was home a month and put on alert, then headed to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for more training and came home on leave in November just in time for his favorite sport, deer hunting.
When he got home he did all the visiting and you guessed it, he went hunting.
The morning of November 5, 2004 was a morning I thought I'd wish would never have happened, but it was a blessing for our family.
Charles decided to go bow hunting but unfortunately fell asleep in his tree stand, then fell 15 feet, in which he broke a couple ribs, lost his spleen, and punctured his lung.
Because of the accident he ended up having to stay behind an extra 32 days before joining his unit in Iraq. We were blessed with one last Christmas with our son and 3 more precious pictures of our son and daughter together?for you see Charles was killed in Baghdad, Iraq 6 months later.
I've learned to cherish every moment with family because you never know when it will be our last?
Very Proud Mother of Spc. Charles A. Kaufman
KIA Baghdad, Iraq 06-26-05
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