A Soldier's Christmas Poem

I don't know how wrote this originally - if you do, please let me know so I can attribute it appropriately.  Please don't forget the young men and women that are still out in the cold desert nights fighting for our freedom.  Always honor their sacrifice and never forget the things they do for us.

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.

My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know, Then the
sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,

I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,

I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."

My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

This poem always stirs me deeply - I will never forget.

Ready for Launch

So it's about time that I wrote something here I think.  It's also about time for this semester to be over... Like right now... ready... GO!

For those of you that don't know, I'm in Boston University School of Management's Cross Functional Core Curriculum program, lovingly known as CORE.  This is a class sequence that integrates 4 different disciplines (read classes) of operations management, information systems, finance, and marketing. 

All of these classes work together to develop a single project that we build throughout the entire semester on a single team.  We're getting really close, as in Friday at noon, to the point at which we hand in the business plan for said project.  I neglected to mention that this project is to design a product and business that is geared for consumers... all the way from concept through the business plan and into a prototype and an investor presentation.

Our project, the LOCKDOWN laptop security lock, is our product.  It's a laptop lock that uses an industrial suction cup to secure your laptop to any hard surface.  Our business, Hemisphere Security, can be found over at http://www.hemispheresecurity.com - check it out at some point if you'd like.

I'm going crazy with this project - doing a lot of the work for the Information Systems section (not a big surprise to anyone) and I'm having a hard time getting this thing done.  I'm not sure why though because I know this stuff so well.  It's the actual sitting down that's been so difficult so far.  Maybe it's the fact that I have so many other things going on in my life.

SKIP TO HERE IF YOU GOT BORED WITH THE FIRST PART OF THE POST

So those other things include MY SELECTION TO GO TO DUBLIN, IRELAND AS PART OF THE DUBLIN MANAGEMENT INTERNSHIP PROGRAM where we get to directly enroll in the University College Dublin Quinn School of Business for their spring term and then experience an internship abroad.  I'M SO VERY EXCITED!!

We're leaving on the 16th of January and we're there until the 21st of June.  It's a looong time, longer than the regular internship program which is only there for the period of a semester.  There's a lot going on before then, as you might imagine.  Getting paperwork out of the way, seeing people, getting internships lined up, getting replacement for my job, finishing core too... that's a big one.  It's all very overwhelming but very exciting too.

I think it's time that I wrap this up... I'm getting weary and I haven't gotten any farther with the IS section so I should sleep so I can start up again tomorrow morning bright and early.  There will be more posts here in the coming days/weeks and then regularly while I'm abroad.  If you're really pining to hear my lovely voice, you can check out my podcast over at http://www.collegetechcentral.com - that will be continued while I'm gone too.  Before I leave, there will be a place to sign up for a newsletter to be included in my life happenings (family will probably love this).  I'll also publish some contact information once it's finalized so you can call etc.

Much love to all of you.  Hope this finds you well.

-James Connors