“C” is for crutch. Almost everything taken for granted is a crutch. These are the things that make life easier but are not necessary. There is a great book titled “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’ Brien. It as an anthropological look into what soldiers during the Viet Nam War carried with them, physically and mentally. It gives insight on to what a soldier will bring from home, to provide comfort during the moments when mental escape is necessary. These things are a crutch. They enable a soldier to keep moving when they would otherwise be immobilized.
I have a few crutches with me. There is a brightly colored bear on my bed. It was given to me by my oldest stepdaughter. It is a substitute for my rat (A poor substitute as the bear does not snore or have gas that would make a nun swear). I also have a binder from my younger step daughter with some art and poems, which she gave me right before I left. I only recently found out that she writes poetry. There is of course my computer, which allows me some contact with my assassin. It has a few games on it, which are really distractions and there are movies, too.
As I said, they are not necessary, these crutches. In fact, I could make it through a deployment without them. But why not have something that aides in making it through to the next day. It is good to have a distraction from reality, when that reality is more real than I would like.
