Brevard North Carolina Real Estate Blog

Every Veterans Day should be an opportunity to say "thank you" to all the service men and women who have kept this country safe over the years. Unfortunately, people have a way of confusing the war with the warriors, letting their political beliefs get in the way.  But, you don't have to be in favor of a war to favor those who fight. Several of my friends have children fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan right now and I cannot imagine the worry and the stress that they live with every day...wondering if the child they love and cherish will come home. But I am grateful for the choice they made to be a part of our military.

My grandmother was one of the original WACs and both of my parents were Navy Veterans, married during World War II. My father was stationed on a ship and my mother was in New Orleans. Somehow they wrangled a six day leave with six days of travel time and were married in the Navy chapel in Rhode Island. In her journal, which I found after her death, she wrote "I cried most of the way back to New Orleans. We did not know when we would be together again. At twenty years of age, I doubt that most people perceive the history which unfolds around them - neither did I. In fact, one part of me still dwells in the excitement of a country at war - a country which felt safe, united, and patriotic. Perhaps, a naive country that was mine in 1945."

Luckily, my parents lived long happy lives after the war ended. No doubt, there are families across this country with similar stories, many with endings that were not so happy. So, today, no matter how you feel about the Iraq war, or any war for that matter, please don't let this day go by without a thought, a prayer, or a thanks for the mothers, fathers, and children who have made the supreme sacrifice to fight for the freedoms we all enjoy.