remember ...

i know i should have posted this earlier but i was crazy busy today ... so my challenge to you is to take a moment EACH day to remember and thank all those service men and women who have so bravely fought for this freedom that we so easily and carelessly enjoy everyday.

after watching so many clips and tributes over the past number of weeks, one thing has stuck out at me. it haunts me. it has made me go scrounging thru scrapbooks and websites alike. and now i have this knot in my stomach. a fear almost.

i have been surrounded by images of boys fighting in wars. these young men are someone's sons. some very brave mama stood back and watched her baby take on the burden of his nation and go off to a strange land and put his life in the hands of other young men he barely knew. some mother DID NOT scream and wail and beg him to stay home, go to school, to play ball. some woman, took a deep breath and asked calmly whether he had thought this thru? she asked why? she listened as this baby told his mama in the words of a man that she taught him well, she did her job.

as the years went on these mothers were also sending off their daughters as well as their sons. what was wrong with the world, where had it all gone wrong? weren't things supposed to be getting better? wasn't the time of war in the past. it appears not.

yet, it is.

look at all these young faces, these babies, who are so brave as to think that THEY, the mere children of their mothers, that THEY can save us. they can show the world that THEY will protect our freedom. and they did. they do.

i will forever be in their debt; and the debt of their mothers. thank you for your sacrifice. your gift.

could you do it?