Veteran's Day

Growing up, I was never really sure exactly what Veteran's Day was...Sometimes we would sing a patriotic song at church and a bunch of old men would stand up and we would clap for them. There were flags in places that there were usually not flags. We didn't get mail that day. And it was my dad's birthday. Mostly though, Veteran's Day reminded me of my Pap. His World War 2 experience was always this untalked about thing that was still somehow honored and revered in our family. My Pap put his war experience somewhere way back in a compartment of his mind and never wanted to bring it back out once he got home. I can't imagine how he did that. I wish that he hadn't. I wish that he had told us the stories of his bravery and that of the men that he fought with. I wish my boys had those stories of honor and patriotism to look to and learn from. Pap was too humble for that though. All I knew is that he had a scar on his knee, and in my child's-mind it was from his battle with Hitler himself. My Pap won, of course.

Now, I am still not sure of the origins of Veteran's Day. I wish I did. I guess that I could google it. I am, however, much more aware of veterans as we are in the midst of war right now... War is not the elusive thing that it was when I was a little girl. It is a place that people my age and younger are going to and are willing to give their lives at. My cousin, Jerod, is one of those people. So to him, and to my Pap, and to all of the veterans of our great country, I say Thank You!