Happy Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day. Not a day I ever really paid much attention to, but I know I should, we all should. As a teenager I was quite an outspoken protester. My Philosophy teacher in my senior year of high school called me a "pinko commie", I spent my 18th birthday at a protest down in D.C. at the Egyptian Embassy, and the first thing I did when I went away to college was join the local chapter of Amnesty International, which quickly morphed into an anti-war protest group. We had petition signings on campus and attended protests, most notably the Stop the School of the Americas protest down at Fort Benning in Georgia. I truely believed in what I was doing and was proud of my role. Then something happened that really shifted my way of thinking, I met my husband. We met online, had a whirl wind romance of about 3 months during which he proposed. The key to this? He was in the Navy stationed in Norfolk, VA. I visited his ship a few times, met his friends onboard, attended their Christmas party. And then one week after he proposed to me he suddenly came home with the news that his ship was being suddenly depolyed and was leaving in 4 days. I drove down with him and his mom to drop him off at his ship, and it still brings tears to my eyes remembering how I felt seeing him walk away from me with no idea of how long he would be gone. That was January of 2003, 3 months later in March I sat and watched the beginning of the Iraq war on tv, sick to my stomach, knowing he was over there somewhere. In the end we ended up being lucky, he was only gone 6 months, and during that time we shared many e-mails and 2 phone calls. It was November 14th 2003 that we were married (Saturday is our 6 year anniversary). In April 2004 his time was up and he decided to get out of the Navy because we wanted to start a family. But going through all that let me see into a world I had no idea about before. I saw those young men and women saying good bye to children and loved ones, going to work everyday, sometimes doing simple jobs but always in service of a greater cause. I also saw the joy and excitement the day those men and women came home, the new fathers who were let off the ship first to see their babies born while they were gone. I remember how I felt seeing him for the first time in 6 months and not knowing whether to scream or cry and probably doing both. If you ask my husband, he down plays it all, the job he did, the time he served, but he will forever be a hero in my heart, because he did a job that so few are willing to do. He stood up when others have sat down or run away. I remember feeling such pride when on our honeymoon we were having breakfast at the bed and breakfast we were staying at and a man we were eating with stoped us before we left and asked my husband if he was in the military, he said yes, and the man took his hand and said it was an honor to shake his hand and thank you for all you do.

I say all this because I think there is one lesson we all need to be sure to learn, no matter what you think about the military, where its going, who leads it, when you get down to it are the men and women who choose to serve their country. And they deserve all the honor and respect in the world. And also for those familys that give up their sons and daughters, husband and wives to this dangerous job with no certainty of their safe return. So today, take a moment and just think about those in your life who are serving or who have served and say a prayer for them and their families.

In my own life I have several Veterans, my husband who was in the Navy, my Dad who was and still is in the Navy, and my grandfather who passed away was in the Army I believe, not to mention the numerous friends we have who have served. I thank you all!!