Tonight, after 30 days of living out of a rucksack and a duffel bag, I’m finally unpacked and in a room. Not just any room but MY ROOM. My own personal space that has four walls a door and my own bed.
It’s kind of amazing how much I missed sitting in someplace that has four walls and space that I can call my own. Since I left the comforts of home and started my travels to Afghanistan all that I had was a bed in a grand total of one small 8 person tent, one large 400 person tent, and two 80 person barracks. All this time my space consisted of a bed and a pile of luggage.
Finally, after much anticipation I loaded up all my luggage and moved into my room. My room is about six and a half feet wide and about ten feet long. There’s a bed, a wall locker (basically a utilitarian armoire) and a large book case sized shelf. Two walls are the exterior of the building and the other two are made of plywood. The door slides open and it is also made of plywood. The walls only go about eight feet high and then there is about 3 or 4 feet of open air before the roof of the building. In our hallway we have six rooms, but only five of them will be occupied.
The walls give you the feeling of privacy but the open air above the walls lets the sound from the adjoining rooms travel but that’s fine.
This morning, when I was getting ready I had a moment of elation and it’s something so small but meant something to me. I opened up my wall locker and opened a drawer and retrieved a clean pair of socks. No longer did I have dig into a clean laundry bag or fish into my duffel bag.
This evening, I opened up a tote that I had packed out before I left and that my wife had mailed out. Inside was a real blanket, some real pillows, a TV, and my X-Box. I setup the TV and X-Box and sat on my bed and played Madden with a member on the team. For an hour or so I didn’t feel like I was in a combat zone. I didn’t think about the pain it is to go to the bathroom. I didn’t worry that the PX was out of nearly everything. I just played, cheered, and yelled out in frustration like I was home.
Some of the guys have spent time getting their room together. They’ve built lofted beds or did some other sort of construction. I’ve debated about lofting the bed to give me some more floor space but the thought of rigging my bed 6’ into the air with some 2x4’s and nails is just a little too iffy. Not to mention, that a lofted bed also complicates the already complicated bathroom experience.
So tonight, as I sit in my bed, in my room, with a light on that is operated by me, I finally have a temporary home.
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