Veterans Day

To most of America, today is just a day off of work or school that holds no great significance in their lives. As they take advantage of the sales at the retail stores and go about their day doing whatever it is they please, they won't even think twice about the thousands of men and women who are currently fighting in a war that barely gets mentioned anymore.  They won't be thinking about all the holidays, birthdays, weddings, funerals, graduations and other special events missed by deployed service members, the babies born while their fathers are thousands of miles away, the day to day struggle the troops endure during deployments, and most of all they won't be thinking about all the lives lost in combat or the troops who come back wounded physically and/or mentally. We owe our veterans so much gratitude, and yet even on this one day a year when we are supposed to honor them, the majority of our nation will not do so. Please don't be a part of that majority!

With all that said, I want to show my appreciate for all of our vets--both past and present. Thank you for your dedication and sacrifices, and Thank You for the life that I am able to live today in this great nation of the USA.

Of course, the most important service member I need to thank is my husband. I can't even begin to describe how proud I am of this man, and how thankful I am for what he does for our family and our country. The first time I saw him in his uniform, my heart absolutely melted. I will never forget that day and the pride I felt when I saw him marching across that field at his basic training graduation. He was a different man than the one who left our hometown a couple months prior to that, and I couldn't believe how focused and disciplined he was. He was a new man--an American Soldier! We only had about ten minutes to talk after the ceremony, and then he was whisked away on a bus taking him to AIT in Maryland.

Basic Training Graduation, 2006

Fast forward to the present day, and there's no way I could have prepared myself for the journey we have been on together over the past seven years. Three duty stations and two deployments later, and this man still continues to make me proud day after day.

To Hubs: Thank you so much for all you have done for our family. You are a wonderful husband, father, provider, and soldier. You take care of us, and we always know we can count on you. You are our hero, and we stand behind you no matter what. We love you, and we are so proud of you! Happy Veterans Day :)      Love, Wifey
~Fluffy Girl~