11/11/2015
When my younger brother was deployed in the Mideast, I remember the way in which my breath would catch and my heart seemed to momentarily stop beating every time “Breaking News” flashed across the tv screen or my Facebook newsfeed would carelessly announce news of a helicopter crash or incident in which lives were lost. While my brother did two tours of duty, the second seemed much harder for us as a family, perhaps partly due to the rise of social media in which news was no longer something you could turn on and off. The larger part, however, was due to the fact that he now had a wife and two little boys at home. I will always remember babysitting and watching a Sesame Street video with them about deployment and being unable to control the emotions I felt imagining what it must be like not only for my loved ones but for other children and spouses around the world experiencing the same type of separation and grief. Though I had always missed my brother in my own way, it wasn’t until I sat and watched that video and saw deployment through the eyes of a three year old that I was hit with the level of sacrifice that is easily overlooked or forgotten by those of us who are not living it everyday. So for all the goodnight kisses you missed, the first words and steps, the school plays and football games, the nights when you should have been home cuddling on the couch watching a good movie but instead were standing guard, I thank you… To our Veterans, to their families, and to those who are currently serving to protect this great nation of ours, thank you for your service, your sacrifice, and your love of country. And just like Elmo and his Daddy, we are proud of you! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e79I-q4Yv2M&list=RDe79I-q4Yv2M =3
