Yesterday in church a couple of sections to my right and a
few pews back, two gentlemen sat straight and tall in full military dress. They
immediately drew my eyes, my heart, and my respect. Now admittedly I’m a sucker for a man in
uniform, but this time my gaze quickly wandered from the dashingly handsome
soldiers to the lady who sat sandwiched between them. I don’t know the family, but I’m guessing that
her rank is wife and mother. She was
beautiful in red, white, and blue and while her outfit might have lacked bars
and medals, she was the one who I couldn’t look away from. The men at her side projected dignity and
strength and honor, but that Mama? She
oozed pride from every pore. I’d venture
to say that she is the strongest of the three.
How terrifying it must be to offer those you love most up in service to
our Country.
Every year on Memorial Day I look for the words and pictures
posted by a dear, forever friend who lost her husband way too soon. I didn’t have the privilege of knowing him,
but the legacy he left behind in his children speaks volumes as to who he
was. My favorite picture that she shares
shows a larger than life, grinning guy in a flight suit standing in front of a
plane with his arms flung out around little people who clearly adore him. There is such love and joy in that
picture. And I’m taken aback every
single time that I see it. It’s not
every day that you come face to face with a hero.
At the end of the service yesterday we sang “America the
Beautiful”, and my eyes watered up just like they always do. I love this Country and am ever aware of the
fact that the ability to call it home is both an honor and a privilege that I
have done absolutely nothing to earn. The
debt of gratitude that I owe to those who made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure
that I can attend that church and sing that song and vote my conscience and type
these words. . . it’s one that I could never even begin to repay.
O
beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating
strife,
who more
than self their Country loved,
and mercy
more than life!
America!
America!
May God
thy gold refine
til all
success be nobleness
and every
gain divine.
Who more than self their Country loved. If that doesn’t just knock the wind out of
you.
Back pew Mama, may our heavenly Father always surround your
guys with a hedge of protection and may they feel and know the love of a
grateful nation. To my precious friends
for whom today is about so much more than cookouts and pool parties, may the
God of the broken-hearted wrap you in a comfort and peace that we cannot even
begin to fathom. I’m so sorry that they
didn’t make it home. Thank you for your
service and sacrifice. I promise to
never stop remembering.
