Today is a very special day. I hope you do more than treat it as simply another sale day as much of our culture has.
Take a moment to talk to a veteran. Ask them about their stories. Thank them. Give them the hug they may badly need. Take a moment to consider the homeless. Look into the statistics regarding the numbers of homeless who are vets. Visit a VA hospital. Encourage them (especially our older vets) to record their story for posterity.
Here are a couple resources to get you started. VA Veterans Day page. LOC Veterans History Project. A simple search on “veterans day” in your favorite search engine will turn up many others.
Please do not thank me, at least not unless you have worked a bit harder to thank others who have given far more than me. [Thank you Jenny and you are welcome!]
The ultimate thanks would be to help turn this country into what it can be. And, please, let’s not send any more children to war unless absolutely necessary.
What price would you pay for the freedoms of your neighbors?
Mark, in honor of Veteran’s Day I wrote a long letter to my “Da” (me pappy), a Vietnam (fill in appropriate term for what we’re supposed to call that thing here) Vet. I haven’t visited him in Florida yet (going on 7 years… tho I’ve seen him at my bro’s wedding and such) and now that I crossed the terrifying milestone of flying out to Austin… I think I am ready. I think he was very thrilled to hear this. I was very much inspired by your stories of fatherhood in reaching out, so for that, I sincerely do thank you. j
You are welcome for anything I might have accidentally done.
Parent-child relations are often the hardest, especially once the child becomes an adult. But it really important to try; difficult as that may often be.