Veteran's Day

My Dad's

To all our Veteran's who are serving and who have served, THANK YOU. 

Tonight we will honor our local Veteran's at our local American Legion (go Post 484!).  According to my cousin, the auxiliary president, the Legion used to be packed for this celebration.  But, community participation has really dwindled.  This year, I got a group of 7 of us to go.  Which is pretty impressive, considering we have never attended before.  I am pretty excited to show our support and thanks. We have never done this in the past and I don't know why.  I reflected a lot about this and realized it's been a pretty selfish thing on our part.  Too busy to say a little thanks? Not this year. We are attending!!! 

I have a number of Veteran's in my family, my Grandfather, my Dad, my father in law, cousins, etc.  Some have seen combat, some have not. When my second cousin went away to Vietnam, my Grandmother smoked.  The day he left, my Gramma made a deal with God.  She told God she'd give up smoking (this was in the 1960's) and would never smoke again, as long as Buddy came safely home.  Needless to say, Buddy came safely home, and Gramma NEVER smoked again.  Through the years, I heard her mention how an occasional cigarette would smell, "Good."  But, she never picked one up, fearing her deal with God. I'm pretty sure she felt if she took one puff, Buddy might just keel over.  She is where I get a little of my "deal with God" paranoia.  A pointless story, but it shows the love and support that family members give to those who serve.

This Christmas, I hope to get a big basket of goodies together to help support our men and women who are deployed.  We have our local Yellow Ribbon Support Center that will send donations and care packages to our Troops.  The center was founded by the parents and friends of Matt Maupin, a local solider.  You might not recognize the name, but you've seen his face and story.  I first heard of Matt while waking up one day at a hotel in Muncie, Indiana. His face was plastered all over the TV on The Today Show. Matt was one of our first soldiers who were POW's in Iraq.  He was a local kid, growing up in a town a little East of my hometown. Needless to say, his family and friends keep the center going in his memory to help bring a little bit of the States to all our deployed service people.  I feel a strong need to try to get a nice donation together this year.  Maybe this Veteran's Day is just the catalyst I need.

I am still very thankful and honored for my family members, friends and strangers who served my country in a way, I was never brave enough to do. THANK YOU!



Also, if you want to read a VERY touching post regarding Veteran's Day, I suggest you visit Clover Lane today.  I never link to other blogs, but this one, was so very perfect for today.  Here's the link:  Clover Lane