Be grateful – aloud!

Is it just ME, or are you, too, sometimes stopped dead in your tracks by news stories?

As I write, it is November 11, 2013; Veteran’s Day in the United States; Remembrance Day in Canada.

For much of yesterday and on today’s morning news, stories of Veterans have been highlighted in ads, football games and as leading news stories – and rightfully so.

My favorite stories are of today’s service men and women as they  arrive home to surprise their partners and children; they never get old!

I am dismayed by the stories of service personnel returning to find themselves homeless, broke and alone.  I am overwhelmed with sadness to hear the stories of the wounded who must find a way to assimilate into society after horrific injury to the bodies and/or their psyches.

I am also extremely grateful to these same persons who remind us that we are blessed to do what we get to do each day because of what do each and every day.  Please don’t think I am comparing my day-to-day to that of anyone in service; I am neither that bold, nor foolhardy!

An annual parade down New York’s storied Fifth Avenue, streets lined with admiring patriots, countrymen waiving flags are all, indeed,  good things.  Let us remember the service and the sacrifice of military personnel everywhere every time WE have the freedom to walk down any avenue, to express our feelings about anything and everything and that the red on the flag of the United States of America represents generations of men and women who sacrificed everything.  They are those who have given me the freedom to write this today.

I am not alone, neither as an American, nor as a woman to know that blessings come at a very high cost and represent a debt that can never be repaid.  The most amazing thing is that those who serve their country – any country – have not asked to be repaid.  Respect, however, should be a given. Respect must be given to every service person and to their families; it should not be reserved for a once a year commercialization of what it truly means to have served.

A wonderful quote came across my desk today…

Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone.

                                                                                                                   ~Gertrude Stein

As with love, gratitude must be expressed; it must be given in order to be received. 

So, IS it just me, or can you, too, think of a moment you would like to have back to say, “I love you”, or “Thank you” just one more time?  Wouldn’t we be foolish to pass up another opportunity?

Say it; show it, shout it!