Veteran's Day

I sent a letter to my dad and my step-mother today, thanking them for their service to our country.

It occurred to me that my family's history of military service is something I take for granted. It is simply part of my heritage, my history, it makes up who my family members are.

So today I took a second to thank my family not as a daughter, granddaughter or niece, but as an American. My family has literally given over a century of service to this country and the ideals it represents. It seems right that election day is so close to Veteran's Day. They are the price that we pay... or that is the freedom they paid for us....

My dad answered with a simple thanks. He said it mattered to him that I had the thought as most people seem to view Veteran's Day as just a day off and a day for sales... I also see so many talk about those dead, and we should remember their ultimate sacrifice, but I also hope that we stop and thank the living, men and women who are living monuments to our freedom, burnished bronze, forged in courage and tempered in honor for us.

There are so many forms of service and there are so many who serve, those in ministry, civil service, education and medicine who we owe so much, but today, we should take that moment and thank specifically those men and women who have given so much for the rest of us to be free to serve others, to get an education, to have such amazing health care available to us and to have the voice in our own government.

Thank You.