Today is such a beautiful day, even though it is only the end of February. Since, it appears that this is the year without a real winter…I’m skipping right into Spring. Won’t you join me?
Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. — Oliver Wendell Holmes
Image by qthomasbower via Flickr
“Oh say, does that Star-Spangled banner yet wave?
Over the land of the free, and home of the brave.”
FLAGS FLYING
REMEMBERING
STANDING TALL, STANDING PROUD
ARMY
NAVY
AIRFORCE
MARINES
COAST GUARD
RESERVE
WWI, WWII, KOREAN, VIETNAM, GULF WAR, WAR ON TERRORISM (IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN), ALL THE OTHER OUT POSTS, SKIRMISHES, AND MILITARY PRESENCE
HOLDING THE LINE, STANDING FIRM, PROTECTING, BEING BRAVE
BRINGING PEACE, REACHING OUT, KEEPING SAFE, KEEPING ORDER, HELPING OTHERS
WE REMEMBER
Thank you. What you did (and are doing) was not in vain…
Let freedom ring!
Amen.
Sometimes I wonder if I wasn’t born in the wrong decade…
*I enjoy watching reruns of The Walton’s and their TV lives, circa 1930’s.
*I recently bought a 1934 radio reproduction at a local antiques store. I absolutely love it.
*I think some of the best movies ever filmed were in the 30’s and 40’s.
*I have vintage aprons hanging in my kitchen, that I use.
*Some of my best recipes come from a cookbook entitled New Recipes For Good Eating, circa 1948.
*Buying Christmas ornaments from Woolworth’s Five and Dime store… when stores were small and local.
* I love reading Reminisce magazine from cover to cover.
Sigh.
Before anyone tells me that those two decades were difficult…not fun…and that if I lived in those decades I’d be in my 70’s and 80’s now…..forget it. You are not changing my mind.
I know. I know. The Great Depression. World War II. Hard times. All true, but there was something about that time period…it seems like people pulled together. They were proud to be American. People were happy with a simpler lifestyle. Neighbors knew who you were. ….At least more than in today’s society.
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“Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Casablanca (1941)
“Some day you’ll learn that greatness is only the seizing of opportunity – clutching with your bare hands ’til the knuckles show white.”
National Velvet (1944)
“Oh, my Dear Friend, my heart was trembling as I walked into the post office, and there you were, lying in Box 237. I took you out of your envelope and read you, read you right there.” The Shop Around The Corner (1940)
“The time to make up your mind about people is never.” The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Image by US Army Africa via Flickr
Today, being Veteran’s Day, is an appropriate time to discuss the words, “Thank You”. I have many family and friends that have served in some branch of the armed forces. Really, the words themselves seem so empty, for all that the men and women in uniform have sacrificed for me. And don’t be mistaken, it is a sacrifice…..Some people would say, “but he chose to sign up!”, or “no one asked her to do that, she decided to do that herself!”. Okay. So we don’t have the draft right now. Does that make the sacrifice any less? NO. The only difference is, that today’s young men and women CHOOSE to sacrifice.
Think about that. I mean it. Really, ponder that. Men and women choose to sign up for however many years, to serve their country. It takes some real guts to stand up and say, “I’m going to go through grueling training, I’m going to be stationed wherever I’m assigned, and I’m going to attempt to keep peace. If necessary, I will fight with dignity and honor. Above all else I am loyal to God and country.
People back home may never understand what a soldier goes through. The ache of leaving family for months or years on end. The courage that overcomes the fear when faced with imminent danger. Doing what needs to be done. And doing it with pride and skill.
THANK YOU
1. Thank you for your willingness to serve.
2. Thank you for being brave.
3. Thank you for putting up with dirt and sand, and not being able to shower.
4. Thank you for withstanding the heat, and the cold.
5. Thank you for loving our country.
6. Thank you for standing in the gap, as our protector.
7. Thank you for sacrificing your time away from family.
8. Thank you for upholding the greater good.
9. Thank you for caring.
10. I thank you….because without you….life would not be what it is for us today in this country.
Whether you served in one of the World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, The Gulf, Afghanistan, Iraq…. whether you stormed the beaches of Normandy, trudged through the jungles of Vietnam, or endured the heat and sand of the Middle East…..and all the places in between. I thank you. The officers, and the grunts, the nurses and doctors, the MP, the snipers, the radio operators, the helicopter pilots, and the tank driver. The ones who cook and clean, and fix vehicles, and set up tents. The chaplains, and the guy on guard duty. All of you. I appreciate ALL OF YOU.
Thank you to the men and women who have come home as wounded warriors. That sacrificed an arm, or a leg, or their hearing or sight for us….for me. And thank you to those that gave the ultimate sacrifice…..their very lives. You are not forgotten.
It Just Dawned On Me 