I have always been flattered when someone said, “If you can read this, thank a teacher,” even if they weren’t talking to me when they said it. It was always a much-appreciated compliment to me and my colleagues to hear someone say that sincerely. Yes, all teachers appreciate the praise, especially the ones who taught the very young children and started with phonetics and “Dick”, “Jane,” “Spot,” and “Puff,” and “I before e, except after c,” etc. We all were/are very proud to be, or have been, a part of a child’s learning to read, or write, or spell, or add, subtract, multiply, divide, or know the capitals of the US and World, and/or the elements of the Periodic Table, or how to drive a car, or build something out of wood, and/or all the other skills kids learned within the walls of their homes by their parents, and their school classrooms by the many teachers they had in school.

All of these things were, and are, wonderful, but if not for those men and women who fought/fight for the freedom given us to do these things, we may not, and probably would not, have had the opportunity to have the things we have, do the things we do, decide what job we want to have, or be the people we choose/chose to be. Those men and women are the veterans we honor this coming Monday.

As children, we were asked many times, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” If you ask a five-year old that, you will probably get a variety of answers from being a superhero, to a policeman/policewoman, a dancer, a singer, a professional baseball/football/soccer (male and female)/basketball (female and male)/hockey player, or golfer, and/or any other athlete player they have seen on television As they get older most of those things are forgotten and they have a whole new list of things they might like to be when they, both young women and young men, grow up and can choose from such occupations as a CEO, Administrator, Doctor, Business Person, teacher, sales person, author, construction worker, truck driver, mechanic, carpenter, plumber, landscaper, even a politician, or any other profession, career, or job, they choose as their lifelong vocation. Sometimes, people think they know what they want to do, they study hard and achieve that goal only to find it really isn’t/wasn’t for them. If that happens, they can try something else. In many other countries and parts of the world, people never had, or have, their first choice, let alone a second choice. We live in a country where we have free choice. Granted our present government structure, and the execution of it, seems to be rolling on severely patched tires, rotating under some shabby jalopies, and is not what most of us want it to be, but as worn thin as it is, it still gives us choice. It still protects us from those who want us not to have choice, and those who gave/give that protection was/is not those running the government (though many of them think they should get the credit), but rather it was/is the uniformed women and men who were/are literally in the trenches blanketing us with those freedoms of choice, and the promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is those people who we honor on Monday.

As we go through life, we encounter many who help us, guide us, teach us, and protect us because they know us, be they family, friend, colleague, supervisor, or a member of the same club or organization. It’s natural to want to help those we know. In the case of veterans, (and also first responders) many volunteered their service, not only to and for people they know, but they made/make the same commitment to protect people they don’t know, people whom they’ve have never met, committing blindly, because of the oath taken when joining the military.

We should all have a list of those we need to write thank you notes to in our lives for everything they do/have done for us, for whatever reason. That list should include our Maker, parents, loved ones, friends, colleagues, teachers, anyone they’ve served with in any capacity who have done so much to make our lives what they are, and who have given us the opportunities to be what we are in whatever we do in our lives.

Come Monday we can personally “write” a thank you to all the veterans who stepped up, donned a uniform, and pledged an oath to serve God, country, and man, and made a promise to protect everyone whose Freedom is threatened or attacked on our country’s soil, and abroad as well. If you see a veteran, someone wearing a military cap, someone you know who served in a restaurant, store, the post office, and/or anywhere else, thank them for their service to all of us. If you attend a Veterans’ Day service at a Veterans’ Park or at a cemetery, or at any of the military legions in the area, say a thank you to all of them for their blind devotion to maintain the freedoms given to us nearly 250 years ago.

To all veterans deceased, and still with us, thank you for your service!