Veterans Day has always reminded me of the many folks I've known throughout my life who were directly or indirectly involved in our country's defense. My father and uncle were Korean War Veterans, I was married to a Vietnam Veteran, and many of my friends and my daughters friends, have served or are still serving. Yesterday, I participated in the Veterans Day Services at the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. It was an honor to be among all those wonderful men and women who have sacrificed so much. It is my hope and prayer that they realize how grateful we are!
To my father: I wish you could have seen me in the parade! I bet you would have laughed at me being in a tuxedo! But I know that because you had been an "Elk", you would have understood how important the Veterans are to the Elks. I spend a lot of my free time doing things through the Elks organization, to show our appreciation. We donate to our local Vietnam Veterans Food Pantry, we supply our local needy Veterans with Thanksgiving Baskets each year. We invite all children of our local active duty military personnel to our annual Kids Christmas Party. We travel every month to our local Veterans Hospital to bring a meal and a smile to our wounded Veterans. Last summer we held a classic car show to raise money for Cape Cod Cares for Troops and earlier we held a Veterans Cookout so all our local vets could come and eat for free. Dad, I know this must sound like I'm bragging ~ maybe I am. The Elks have provided me a way to say thank you and keep saying thank you to all those, like you and Uncle Stu, who have given more than I can imagine to keep our country safe. I don't know if you ever really got a "Thank You For Your Service" from anyone Dad, so I'm saying it ~ every chance I get.
And to all of those Servicemen and women out there in Blogger world who might stumble upon this post, I sincerely thank you for your dedication to our country.
 |
| Benevolent Protective Order of Elks |
