Heroes Among Us

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My dad is a veteran of the Air Force. His father, my grandpa, was in the Navy. And yet, it never hit home with me. Maybe I was too young then. I'm thinking of them today.

My brother joined the Army National Guard, and through him, I met my husband. Only with those two boys thousands of miles away in a desert did it begin to sink in- the weight of it all. I think of them today, too.

I remember Googling late one spring night, and somehow stumbling onto a few blogs. I remember specifically reading Goodnight Moon first, curled up at my desk with a cup of something and low lamplight. How lucky, I thought, to find a girl who knows what it's like to have someone gone. I found others like the Annoyed Army Wife soon after. It started to occur to me that there was a whole world out there I never knew. I had already been writing my blog for a few months, and though they didn't know me yet, I felt as if I were among friends. I knew that if they were to read my posts full of worry and longing, I would be understood by them. The 'real life' people in my world couldn't grasp it for the most part, but these girls loved someone in the military, too. Without them even knowing it, they assured me that deployments end and life could be beautiful afterwards. I realized that there were thousands of girls who had been in my shoes, who loved their veterans, and who wanted them home.

Today, I'm thinking of all those veterans- those who never saw war and those who did. Those who came home safe and sound, and those whose mind or body is no longer completely whole. Those who may have sat in an air conditioned trailer somewhere relatively safe, and those who were in constant danger of losing their lives. Those who were always afraid, and those who had no fear. Those who laid awake at night thinking of their children, and those who tried to shut out every thought. Those who loved their job and nothing else, and those who ached to be home with their wives or husbands again.

They are all heroes.

And to all the heroic wives, girlfriends, and widows of those veterans, whose blogs introduced me to a group of friends so kind, so personable, and so valuable- thank you for you family's service.

"Valor is stability, not of legs and arms, but of courage and the soul." 

- Michel de Montaigne


In honor of my husband, my brother, my father, 
my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, my brother-in-law,
my grandfather, my great grandfather,
and everyone else who has served.