veterans day....

it's funny how one thing connects to another....turning to thoughts....memories...
how...
one seemingly unconnected thing...
can...remind us ...of the past...
how and why we're here today...
where we've been...
where we're going...

earlier this year...
chris joined the airforce....
he went to basic training....then he went to tech school...
he had to leave violet & alissa .....
he was gone for around 6 months...
it's a long time when you have a daughter who is only 1 year old..
it's a lot to miss...
i can't imagine what that's like....

and violet ...
she missed the love of her life...
she struggled at times...
but i also like to think...she grew...

i was thinking ...
this week...
what it must be like..
then...
i remembered...
when i was young...
my father was in the military...
he had to leave our family numerous times..
leaving my mother with my brothers and sisters...
it was...
a struggle for both of them....

i thought about this...
i thought about what veterans day really means..
how...
one day...
is not close to enough to thank and remember...
all the sacrifices so many people have gone through....to insure..
our way of life...could be what it is...

my father was in world war II....
he seldom talked about his experiences.....
the little i remember him ever saying was...
he got gassed by mustard gas...when he was in africa....
i thought about all of the men i knew...who had served in world war II...
who had served in korea...
vietnam...
iraq...
and very few of them...
ever talked about the things that happened...
when they were at war....
i could never tell if they put it behind them...
or
if they just chose to not talk about their experiences...
because...
very few people could understand how horrible they actually were..

i remember ....
growing up on military bases...
fathers coming and going..
some not coming back...

i remember...
and i know...
we were lucky...
my father always came home...
my mother was the glue that kept us together...
and i'm thankful for both of them..
in so many way...
i'll never be able to express....

so...
as i sit and write tonight...
in a lot of places...
there are men and women..
our serving their country...
in places..
unsafe...
in places...
they wouldn't chose to be...
and..
once again...
i'm thankful...and greatful.....

so thank you chris...
thank you violet..
thank you ...mom and dad...
and all the others...
who...
make sacrifices day to day...
that not only benefit themselves..
but benefit all of us...


tonights music....
eric andersen....time run like a freight train....

"..outside the rain is falling,
the doorways all are filled,
with all whose lives just move so slow,
leaving only space to fill...
oh, the rain is making patterns now,
on my windowsill...
of those who never asked to die,
and were too afraid to kill...

time run like a freight train,
won't you take me down the line...
there's so much much I can never say,
of the ruins left behind...
oh, my pockets they are empty,
there's so much on my mind....
time run like a freight train,
and take me down the line...."