Dear Veteran, Thank You For The Gift

By Royale on November 11, 2010 in Gratitude

The gift of freedom, opportunity and choice that is…

Why am I talking about Veteran’s Day on a productivity blog? The simple answer is, because life is about more than work, more than getting things done, more than being organized and more than being successful. Without veterans and other pioneers and guardians to protect and shape our lives, there would be no opportunities or purpose.

Why is it that young children seem to get this, but we as intelligent adults so conveniently forget? My son’s 6th grade class wrote letters to send to Veterans this week in honor of Veterans Day. Nearly all began with “Thank you for the sacrifices you have made…,” now here’s the important part, “for me.” Yes, that’s right “for me.” These children get that this is personal, not just a day off from school or platitudes we utter and parades we watch once a year.

This is about a personal sacrifice that has been made by millions, 21.9 million veterans as of the end of 2009 to be exact. These men and women had or have families, careers, hopes and dreams. They are our brothers, parents, friends, spouses, children, people on TV, in the office next to yours, the mechanic who fixes your car, the nurse who meets you in the emergency room, the elderly man in the nursing home that no one remembers to visit and even more sadly the homeless man begging for food on your city street.

It’s also personal to many of these children and should be to the rest of us “civilians.” The entire class cried with the young boy who wrote his letter to his Veteran grandfather to place on his grave. They offered sympathy and support to my son as he shared his letter to his Veteran father, currently serving in Afghanistan, through the fog of painful tears of separation. Sometimes children have such an open honesty and a clear understanding of simple things that we adults try to complicate.

Veteran’s Day is not just about “Yeah, we’re free!” though that’s certainly worth celebrating. It is about making difficult, often horrific personal sacrifices for the good of something greater than ourselves.

So, today and every day, I continue to be grateful for all those past, present and future that I am proud to call “Veteran.”