A Tip for Celebrating Veterans Day

My life is heavily influenced from being part of a military family—both by birth and by marriage. For instance, I stress out if someone tells me it’s 6:30 but it’s actually 6:33. I also live in Alaska, which is both gorgeous and insane.

Growing up a Navy Brat and raising my family as a Coast Guard Wife keeps life interesting, but I’ve also seen sacrifices first hand. My dad would leave for 6 months at a time, and his job as a fighter pilot landing on aircraft carriers in the middle of the ocean was inherently dangerous. That’s not fun for the family back home, and I know he missed us fiercely when he was gone. As for my current life, I spent much of the first year and a half of our oldest son’s life raising him by myself because Aaron was gone half of the year every year. We spent Anders’ first Christmas alone, just the two of us, because Daddy was out to sea and it didn’t work out for me to be with my parents. But of course, the true sacrifice is that of Aaron, who is dedicated to our country but equally dedicated to our family. That split has been really hard on him at times.

So Veterans Day means a lot to us. It’s important to remember why my dad was gone all of those months, why it’s such an honor that my grandmother and grandfather were laid to rest in Annapolis, and why my kids will grow up with an extra dose of respect for their Daddy. Besides the respect they feel for his unmatched skills in the kitchen. (At this point in life, I’m pretty sure they think his job is Personal Chef.)

One of the best ways you can celebrate this year, explaining the meaning of today to your kiddos and get a dose of feel-good but true reality for yourself is to watch a fantastic series by PBS, available HERE on Youtube. Each episode is only a few minutes long, and highlights a service member who found comfort in a special item (or dog!!) when they were deployed.

Raise your hand if you’re surprised the story about the dog was my favorite.

Anyway, I thought this was a fabulous way to spend a few moments of your day as we celebrate Veterans Day with veterans at the forefront of our minds. I hope you enjoy the episodes as much as I did and remember why we get to live in an [imperfect] nation with freedom to think, pray, and love as we feel called.