I’ll Be Home for Christmas

Times Contributor

 

Bing Crosby’s 1943 hit “I’ll be Home for Christmas” has taken on a special meaning for a Strathmore woman as she anticipates her husband finishing his last tour of duty with the Alaska National Guard in Afghanistan in time to be back with her and their two children for December 25.

For Nick Phillips, being away from home and his wife Amanda (nee Nicolson) was difficult enough for both of them. Phillips is on his third tour away from home, his previous two being in Iraq. Part of a peace keeping unit with a Provincial Reconstruction Team, Phillips’ platoon helps the local Afghan National Police rebuild their infrastructure and provide security for the engineers and doctors stationed there. There is an element of danger as Phillips still leaves the confines of the compound two to three times a day on patrol in the unpredictable country.

When Amanda, a registered nurse at the Peter Lougheed Hospital in the neo-natal intensive care unit, found out she was expecting their second child she kept the news quiet from Nick until she had a positive confirmation from the doctor because she said that she “didn’t want to cause him (Nick) any added or undue stress while he was stationed overseas”. 

The couple already has a beautiful little daughter, Karmyn, almost two-years-old. When Phillips received the news from his wife he jokingly said, “I annoyed the platoon for the next week or so telling everyone that we were having baby number two”.

Phillips received a call from his wife early in September saying that the doctor would be inducing her early due to some health concerns. With a twelve hour time difference, Phillips was on a night shift in Afghanistan when his sister-in-law Skyped him from the Drumheller Hospital so he was able to experience the birth of his son on an iPhone, with his mother-in-law (Kathy Nicholson) filling in as coach. Marc Anthony Phillips was born at 37 ½ weeks on September 6 at 9:10 a.m., weighing a whopping 6lbs 13 oz and measuring a strapping 21 inches in length.

Phillips was recently able to take a short leave to come home for 10 days to meet his son and spend some time with his family. His father flew down from Alaska to see him and to meet his new grandson. Not a stranger to the military, Phillips’ father was part of the U.S. Army’s Special Forces Unit before retiring to working in the Anchorage College, and remains actively involved in the veteran community.

Phillips left for Afghanistan on Saturday morning, Oct. 6. Amanda said, “I don’t know why but it just seems more difficult saying goodbye this time even though I know that it will be a shorter time before I see him again.” 

Phillips will be back to the U.S. in November to Indiana for training before having a 10-day leave over Christmas and New Year’s with his family in Strathmore. Technically he will be finished his nine-year commitment in July 2013 when he looks forward to enjoying civilian life. Both Nick and Amanda are incredibly thankful for a supportive family and for the modern technology that allows them to regularly see each other on Skype.

In the meantime, Amanda sings to baby Marc and sister Karmyn, “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” in hopes that the time flies by.