Thankful #5: Thank You is Not Enough

I started to get on Facebook this morning to complain about the fact that on Veterans Day, when my husband could and should be off work and spending time with his family in celebration of the fact he's made it safely home to us so many times, he is going to be driving all over creation participating in various Veterans Day programs, whilst Americans who haven't made nearly the sacrifice, sit at home watching television.

But then I remembered where I spent last Veterans Day.



And I decided that I'd just go on ahead and shut the hell up.

 

Because even though I don't see my husband nearly as much as either of us expected when he took this assignment. I see him. Nearly every day. And even though he has to spend the whole day away from home when he should get a rare weekday off, he'll still come home at the end of the day. And those white markers mean that someone out there isn't seeing their loved one anymore at all.

I remember thinking that day at Arlington, walking with two veterans that are near and dear to my heart as we found the near dozen headstones of folks buried in section 60 that we had known, how I needed to really soak in the feeling of that place, and the smell in the air, and the leaves under my feet because I was in the company of incredible heroes on a day to celebrate their very existence. How lucky I was to be able to honor these Americans on this day, in this place. My heart was filled with such gratitude and my eyes were filled with tears.

 

And then I looked up at the men stopped in front of me (Erik and our friend Mike), looking down at the gravestone of their fallen Battalion Commander, and I realized that I have spent nearly every day of my married life in the company of heroes. And my heart is almost always filled with this sense of gratitude. 

 

But I suppose it's because I know something that most people don't. You know, it amazes me when people say they don't know anyone who has served in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because nearly every young man in my life has. I guess that's just a product of living this lifestyle but I can't imagine a life without the ups and the downs and the hellos and goodbyes. It seems so foreign. It seems so ordinary. How lucky I am to be surrounded by brave men and women, willing and able to, at the drop of a hat, pack up and leave their families for places unknown to many of the rest of us. My meager contribution to society (what ever it was or may be) can never, ever compare.

 

How grateful I am to have known some of these brave men and women. How honored I am to call them friend. How thankful I am to live among them, in this great nation. On this day, as well as many others during the year I make an attempt, however small, at showing my gratitude to those who've put their lives on the line for our country. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

 

Thank you.