Monday, September 1, 2008

Another Letter from Iraq


We just returned from our annual Adair Family & Friends Labor Day Campout, and Lt. Colonel Patty Kubeja was sorely missed. Her husband, children, and step children were there, though, and Mark caught us up on what Patty has been doing.

When I got home, I had an email from Patty--a newsy email she sends out to family and friends. I know she won't mind my sharing it with you. She writes:

It has been two months since I last wrote. I have been meaning to write but just kept procrastinating. At first it seemed I didn't have much to say except it is still hot and I am still deployed, but after two months I do have a little more to share.

Soldiers are known for the sacrifice they give for their country. I have heard that for the past 19 years I have been in the military, but the word sacrifice has taken on a new meaning during this deployment. Missing so many important family events and missing out on a year of my children’s life, I can say I have truly felt the sacrifice. I have to say a Big Thank You to my loving husband and kids for supporting me and sacrificing along with me.

In August I was flown to Germany for a medical test. There was concern about a mammogram I had taken prior to deploying, and instead of waiting a year to have another one taken, they sent me to Landstuhl for the test. Everything turned out normal and I was cleared to return to duty. I had a nice little trip to Germany, and I can't describe how beautiful the green was to me. It was nice to smell grass and fresh air. The food even tasted fresher. I bought lots of chocolate and cheese to bring back with me. It was hard coming back to the dust and dirt and heat of Iraq, but I am back into the swing of things again.

One of the morale activities around here is fun runs. I am collecting tee shirts from these runs and think I will make a quilt when I get home. The run last Friday wasn't so fun. It was a half marathon. One thing I have learned is that when one is 43, it isn't smart to go run 13.2 miles without training. I felt like I aged 20 years after the race. My hip started hurting at 45 minutes, and by mile 10, I was really hurting. But I made it in 2 hours 2 minutes and 53 seconds. Crazy what we do for fun and recreation over here...maybe because it is FREE!!!

It is still so hot here the longer races have to be started early. It is still 90/95 degrees at 6 a.m. (Right now it is 10 p.m. and still 103 degrees outside.) The days are getting shorter, which is good, but only because we don't have the blazing sun. The hottest my thermometer has registered is 131 degrees. They say that soon it will start cooling... I am anxiously awaiting that.

Ramadan started here today...or in the morning depending on the sect of Muslims. For those at home who don't know, Ramadan is a month of fasting by the Muslims. They fast from sunup to sundown, pray, and read the Koran. I don't really have any contact with Iraqis, and we aren't close to a town, so I don't hear the call to prayers or see the effects of things basically shutting down for a month. It does affect the transportation of things since many truck drivers are Muslims and often stop working for the month.

Take Care...and thanks for your thoughts and prayers for me and my fellow soldiers.


Patty Kubeja





Return to Neighborhood



2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I feel touched by your letter,it is chocolate and cheese to me,in Germany your felt good smelling the greenery,its the same with the dust in Iraq,it has a subtle message to you,a rare gift for all people you would ever love.I hope you will pay heed as you build our civilization.

Liz Adair said...

Thank you, Katua, for that reminder. I hope so, too.