All of this was done with the brave men and women who selflessly gave their lives to defend our freedom, on our minds and in our hearts. Their sacrifice does not go unnoticed around here.
Speaking of which, I took the boys to visit the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall today. LaVor and I were blessed with the opportunity to see the actual wall six years ago, during our trip back East. Since I don't know when our boys will have a chance to see the real thing, and I want to instill in them an appreciation for such things, I wanted to share this experience with them.
On our way out of the park, we stopped at the playground for The Lime to play for a little bit. I sat on a bench next to two veterans and thanked them for their service. They were both gracious and said they appreciated it, especially since they received much less than that after coming home from serving in Vietnam. "We were yelled at, cursed at, spat on, had things thrown at us. It was awful," they said. Thankfully I had my sunglasses on because tears began to fill my eyes, as I thanked them again for their willingness to fight for those who did not support or appreciate them, especially because they were fighting for those peoples' free speech. We chatted for a couple more minutes before their legs were rested enough to finish the walk back to their car.
I'm forever indebted to my parents for being great examples of how to treat veterans, how to honor our flag and country, how to show gratitude for all we've been blessed with. I hope I can provide that same example for The Lime and Doodlebug.
Today was the perfect ending of our Memorial Day week, remembering those who gave up everything so we can enjoy our lives in this great land.
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