In case you haven’t noticed we live in a great country! We live
in a country where one can speak his mind and not be jail or worse for saying
those words. It is a place where people come from all nations looking for the
freedoms that most of us take for granted. But those freedoms did not come without
a price and through the years our country has paid dearly. Many have died or
been injured in keeping our freedom and country safe. It is time to say thank you to all those in
the military or have served in the military and their families.
Many years ago, near the start of the Iraq war, the son of
my manager was serving in Iraq. It was a few weeks before Mother’s Day and we
talked about how nice it would be to send blank Mother’s Day cards for him to
hand out to other military personnel so that they would have cards to send to
their love ones on that special day. The staff all got involved and spread the
word via friends, neighbors and church. Soon customers were dropping off cards
at the store. Some were bought and dozens were hand made by classrooms of
children from local schools. Then the local paper showed up to do a story about
the Mother’s Day cards being collected and we were front page news. Soon we had
so many cards we had to find additional military personnel to hand them out. Those
receiving the cards were so grateful and we know that many wonderful ladies got
a special surprise that Mother’s Day, a card they hadn't been expecting. It was such a simple way to say thank
you.
There are lots of ways to say thank you. Offer to buy lunch
for the service member in line with you at your favorite eatery. When you see a
service person, shake their hand and say thank you. Visit patients at a VA
hospital. Help with a “Stand Down” in your area for local vets. Call your local
Veterans office and ask what you can do. None of these ideas suit your tastes,
this week’s “Parade” magazine has several other suggestions on how to say thank
you. It really doesn’t matter what you do but please do something. For me I am going to write a letter for
Operation Gratitude and let that special service person know how grateful I am
for their service and their family’s sacrifice. Make thanking a person who secured
our freedoms one of your positively healthy choices every day!
Want to know more about Operation Gratitude:
Parade - "4 Ways to Say Thanks on Verterans Day"
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