How Could I Forget?

Well, I've just invited another friend (scratch that, now it's 2!) to this blogsite, so I guess I'd better write something. (Hi, Amy and Laura!) What topic today?

There's always politics, but then I risk alienating the few readers I have. Then there's the whole Britney/K-Fed split and custody controversy, but since we all saw that one coming and can fairly well predict the outcome, that seems kinda pointless. I could bitch about my town's "leaf vacuuming" system for leaf removal, but that would appeal pretty much only to me and my husband - loyal reader though he is, he's only 30% of my readership. Since I don't want to circulate pictures of my kid all over the internet, can't post those. Hey, did I mention how much I like the show "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip?" Okay, covered that one. OH, I've got it. Kinda feel like a putz for not thinking of it sooner.

HELLO, it's VETERANS' DAY. How about taking a moment to thank and honor the millions of America's veteran servicemen and -women? I, for one, sleep better at night knowing that there are people willing to lay down their lives to make sure I can sleep better at night. I may not always agree with what our government chooses to do with our military resources, but I know that the individual human beings who sign up to serve do so with more courage and perseverance than I can muster on my best day. I know that many of them have seen things that most of us don't even know enough to be horrified by, much less can we appreciate how remarkable it is that they continue to serve, come home, and for the most part, manage to resume normal existences when their service is over. Whatever our individual politics here at home in our living rooms, the willingness of these men and women to don the uniform and be ready to keep the peace or take up the fight is worthy of respect and admiration, and a heck of a lot more care and attention than we generally give them once their service is complete and their status changes to "veteran". I've seen how poorly we treat our elderly and disabled veterans, as I've watched the ridiculous hoop-jumping my in-laws have had to do to try to get adequate - not exceptional, mind you, just adequate - care for my husband's grandfather, a veteran of three wars who was exposed to Agent Orange and is now wheelchair bound and suffering a wide variety of ailments and illnesses. I know firsthand how quickly we forget that our military is made up of human beings, that we ask and expect of them things most of the rest of us aren't willing to do ourselves, and as the wife of a veteran, I know how important it is that we remember.

So, folks, let's all take a moment today, whether or not at the officially sanctioned hour for moments of silence, and give thanks for our veterans and their service and the relative peace we currently enjoy in this country as a result of their sacrifice. God bless America - and its military veterans.