This post is dedicated to our veterans and the men and women of the U.S. military. I read a thoughtful maxim yesterday that sums up the definition of a veteran as a person who at one point wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for “an amount up to and including his life.”
It takes an extraordinary spirit to drive a person to put service ahead of self. It takes supreme courage to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom.
It takes a hero.
About a month ago, my fourteen-year-old son informed me that he was considering joining the Army after high school. My first reaction was pure panic, and I desperately thought about all of the arguments I could make to persuade him against doing so, to figure out a way to keep him close to home where he would be protected and safe. Then, I thought how selfish that was. I thought about all of the mothers throughout history who have sent their children off to war so that mine still had the freedom today to make these life decisions. But, I am human. I am a Mom. The desire to keep my children safe is as innate as breathing.
If my son decides in four years that he wants to serve this great nation, I will push my fears aside and encourage him to follow his heart. To me, he is already a hero, and I would be honored and proud to one day call him a veteran.
God Bless the United States of America.
~Valerie~
It takes an extraordinary spirit to drive a person to put service ahead of self. It takes supreme courage to be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom.
It takes a hero.
About a month ago, my fourteen-year-old son informed me that he was considering joining the Army after high school. My first reaction was pure panic, and I desperately thought about all of the arguments I could make to persuade him against doing so, to figure out a way to keep him close to home where he would be protected and safe. Then, I thought how selfish that was. I thought about all of the mothers throughout history who have sent their children off to war so that mine still had the freedom today to make these life decisions. But, I am human. I am a Mom. The desire to keep my children safe is as innate as breathing.
If my son decides in four years that he wants to serve this great nation, I will push my fears aside and encourage him to follow his heart. To me, he is already a hero, and I would be honored and proud to one day call him a veteran.
God Bless the United States of America.
~Valerie~
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