VETERANS DAY 2020

 

VETERANS DAY 2020

I am the granddaughter of a veteran.
I am the granddaughter-in-law of a veteran.
I am the niece of a veteran.
I am the daughter of a veteran.
I am the daughter-in-law of a veteran.
I am the wife of a veteran.

From my earliest days, from my first memories
I understood both the passion to serve and the price veterans paid.
I watched the pride and the pain upon the faces of those who loved those who have served.
I watched the worry and fear upon the faces of those who loved those currently serving.

I know what it cost those who live still. The weight of deployment does not stop upon discharge.

I spent my life observing veterans who were celebrated.
I spent my life observing veterans who were forgotten even as they served.
I spent my life observing veterans who were despised for serving their country.
Few know there were many Vietnam vets who chose to remove their uniforms when in public.

I have had the  privilege of walking in civilian life next to many of these veterans and I want you to know that each and every one of these men chose to answer the call voluntarily, totally surrendering their personal freedoms to protect you and every person drawing breath -  no conditions, no exceptions. They set their safety, their freedom, their loved ones, potentially their life itself aside for the greater good, for humanity, to protect and improve the world in whatever ways they were able.

Most importantly I want you to know that each of these men, some gone, some remaining, came home. And they continued to live their lives with the same heart that called them to serve. They continued to stand, to live, to walk the walk of humanity. Kindness. Aiding others. Supporting each Americans' right to believe and live as they choose and preventing none from doing the same within the laws of the land.

Each of these men maintained the integrity, the kindness, the camaraderie of citizenship. They understood then, as now, we are always in this (no matter what "this" the country currently faces) together. They lived and continue to live those standards.

Cooperation. Kindness. Humanity. Strength of character.  Each an example of "a good man".  Because they understood it takes many to find solutions. Many different points of view, various approaches, talking and listening. No one is smarter. No one is better. No one is always right. No one is always wrong. Each has something to offer, worth considering because it may be part of the answer - or it may not. Veterans fought and continue to fight  for the right for all points of view, all ideas to matter enough to be heard.

Veterans are the first to say, nothing worth doing, nothing worth having is gained without difficulty, effort and looking towards the greater good of peace, kindness, humanity, working together. They each saw first hand the horror of the absence of these things in a country and in the world.

I've never served, I'm not a veteran.

But I've watched and I've listened. To those men and women who have served, to those men and women who are currently serving and to those women and men who plan to serve. Military duty for our country requires much. It asks more of the serviceman or woman and those they love than I can honestly really understand never having done it myself.

Before they serve, they believe in the best of our country, our people. After they serve they believe in the best of our country and we, the citizens of the United States. They hope we will takes the gifts they protected and sacrificed for and in turn do our very best in every way to be deserving and  build upon those gifts,

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I think it's the least we can do. 

Honor their service in the way we live.

It's the least I can do. To thoughtfully, each and every day, choose to offer respect and kindness 

to everyone.