From Iraq!!

A package arrived today! A package from my husband!! :) Just to see his handwriting on the box brought on a twinge of excitement and I just kind of stared at it for a moment in awe. I had seriously just gotten a package from my husband who had sent it all the way from Iraq! My excitement could be contained no longer...I cut into that box like a mad woman...slicing off one of the sides...lucky that I didn't end up damaging any of the contents. I opened the box to find this:

 

video games staring out at me--well really they were just empty cases of the video games he has there with him 'just in case' he might have a spare moment to play (of which I wish he would get a break if only for a moment...just one games worth)! But look...right there in between those empty video game cases lie happiness...in the form of a hand written letter from my one and only!! Hearts are made happy by things such as these! It's the little things in life that sometimes mean the most ;) But that's not all this package contained.
As I dug past the cases I found a little surprise awaiting me: what I assume would have me prepared to dress up in traditional Iraqi clothing.

The clothing, however, brought along with it a horrible stench-- and I sat there breathing it in wondering if that is in fact what all of Iraq smells like, if this is what my husband has to live with, if this is what him and all his belongings will smell like when he returns home...I still wonder. The cats were curious too--they sniffed like crazy, meowing, and just kind of looking at me like "what is this and what is that smell?"

This package brought with it a variety of things--excitement, love, smells, empty game cases, a story--a little piece of what will become part of our history!! And I can't wait to hear Matthew's stories to go along with it all---to learn of the story behind getting me my traditional Iraqi clothing, to find out if Iraq really does have that less than desirable stench, to learn of all his experiences- what he saw, what he learned, and to take note of every little detail he has to offer. Perhaps we'll add some of it here for all to read, maybe I'll write some of it in a journal to be found some day by generations to come on a dusty shelf, or maybe we'll just write it in our memories---regardless, I just can't wait. Can't wait for my husband to be home. But in the meantime- I'll enjoy my love letters and thoughtful packages and smile each time I look back over them--because I love him and he loves me---and he shows me that; all the way... from Iraq!!!