24 Days of Thanksgiving - Day Eleven

First off, I'd like to note that today is 11/11/11, and that I'm writing this at precisely 11 am. If I hurry, maybe I can get it posted by 11:11! That means this post will be extra lucky! Whoever reads it will receive $500 on their front porch! That, or a swift kick in the patootie. Don't blame me, it wasn't my idea. ;)

So, along with it being a very special day numerically speaking, it's also a very special holiday. One that frequently gets overlooked. One that has become more meaningful to me over the years.

Today is Veteran's Day!

As you know, I'm married to an Air Force man. Since he has officially deployed overseas, that makes him a veteran in every sense of the word. And honestly, I couldn't be prouder of him.

It's not easy, being a military wife. Your husband has to be gone a lot of the time, so you spend long stretches at a time basically as a single parent. You get emotional whenever a TV commercial has a military parent coming home and hugging his or her family. You cry over stories of people waiting patiently and respectfully on a commercial airplane while a soldier's body is taken off of the plane. You get furious when you hear about people protesting at military funerals. Your heart aches whenever the media makes a disparaging remark about the troops, or spins a story to make the troops look like bad guys. You hug your kids more, trying to find ways to explain to them why their dad can't be home all the time like their friends' dads. You get scared every time casualties are reported in the area where your husband is deployed. You proudly wear T-shirts and display bumper stickers that let the world know that your husband is in the military, because as tough as it is, you love him and are 100% proud of his willingness to serve his country.

I'm grateful for my husband, for my father, for my grandfather, and for all the other men I know who have faithfully served this country. Without them and their willingness to put their lives on the line for the greater good, we wouldn't have the freedoms we enjoy.

This truly is the greatest country in the world. I've lived in other places around the world, and I can promise you that nobody has it as good as we do here in America. We're blessed to be able to live in this great country. And it's because of the military men and women who serve that we're able to keep those freedoms.

As the saying goes, this is the land of the free, because of the brave.

Thank you to all the courageous men and women who have fought for this country, past and present. Thank you for serving. Thank you for risking your lives so that my children and I can sleep safely at night. Thank you for leaving your families and sacrificing your comfort in order to defend those who can't defend themselves.

You are all heroes. And I'm eternally grateful to every one of you.

My Air Force hubby and his Army brother.