• Veterans Day 2014…

    Today is Veterans Day.  Here in this United States of America, we have FREEDOM because it has been purchased for us – over and over and over again – by those who have defended that freedom for you and me.  Many have come home with life-changing injuries and scars – some visible, some not.  Many have paid the ultimate sacrifice and given their very lives.

    The bitter lines of politics sadly divide this country, but still the fight relentlessly goes on for our freedom.  They are on battlefields across the world…representing you and me in the different uniforms of our country.  I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve been in airports across this country and have seen a young man or woman in uniform.  As a mother of young adults and a grandmother, I feel comfortable and privileged to give them a warm hello and often a big hug…and I’ve been known to do just that.

    A friend of mine was a photographer during the war in VietNam…armed with a camera.  He has written a powerful and moving piece on his time stationed there in Vietnam, along with his two brothers.  I can only imagine what his parents felt knowing their three sons were living each day in harm’s way.  You can read his beautifully written blog post here:  To my brothers in arms…literally.

    If you know a VETERAN or a brave young person in uniform today, call them…write them…send them a package…tell them you love them, but most of all tell them THANK YOU!  Be sure to support and thank the families who are left behind as well!

    By all means, put your hand over your heart and give a big salute when you say the Pledge of Allegiance – and mean it – because freedom isn’t now…and never has been…free!

     

     

    Parts of this post were originally published in My Southern Heart.