Veterans Day 2022 has a very different meaning for me this year. I always celebrate my husband, my son, their friends and all of the service men and women that serve our country. The things that are given up, put on hold and the time taken away is something that is not easy. Veterans and their families learn to roll with the punches and live life day to day not knowing what the next day might bring. And for this they are all celebrated and thanked.
In honor of Veterans Day I’d like to share what I wrote following a nine hour tour of Normandy while we were in France last month. 
You learn about “D” day in high school, you read about it in books, but until you are standing in the trenches, behind the hedge rows, and standing in the waters that these young men jumped into, you won’t understand the fright and the unknown thoughts that must have been going through their heads. 
I learned more yesterday in 9 hours than I could have learned in a year long world history class. Our tour guide had personally interviewed, sat, and listened to soldiers, first hand what had happened to them at the young age of 19 years old.
I learned more yesterday in 9 hours than I could have learned in a year long world history class. Our tour guide had personally interviewed, sat, and listened to soldiers, first hand what had happened to them at the young age of 19 years old. Imagine…19
You haven’t even experienced 1/4 of your life yet, you maybe haven’t even fallen in love, had your first drink or cigarette, (although by now you have), and you still want your mom when you are cold, frightened, or even just tired. All of a sudden you have gun strapped on to you as you are awaiting for the green light… the green light to parachute in or to run out of the landing craft that you have been sitting or laying on for hours off the shore of the beach. You know in the back of your mind that there is a good chance that you will not see the end of the day. But you think about the reason you are here. To save innocent lives in villages of families…kids, moms, dads, grandparents. These families that have had their lives turned upside down for reasons they can’t even begin to understand. All they knew was that their towns were being taken over, and they needed help, from our kids. Kids saving kids. The strength of our servicemen during this time period was tremendous. Unlike anything you can imagine until you see what they had to endure and actually walk where they walked. It is surreal and as much as I’d like to describe it as disheartening, it actually raises the spirit to see what these boys were willing to do. Some there by choice, some not. They were all in it together, it was a brotherhood that would never be broken.
AND FOR THAT WE THANK YOU AND ALL OF OUR MILITARY FOR YOUR SERVICE
