I Am Writing This on 11-11-11

Because they fought.

Because some died.

Because some came back broken.

Because they were brave.

Because they did what I did not do.

Thank you, Veterans, for all you do and give and have done.

Thank you.

Thankful Thursday

Today, I am thankful for... Today. This moment.

Waking up every morning is a gift I too often do not appreciate. Being blessed with another sunrise is the ultimate thing to be thankful for.

On a side note, please remember that the reason we wake up in a free nation, with the ability to write and say what we please (for the most part), worship as we see fit (or don't see fit), earn a living, enjoy the highest standard of living in the world (even our poverty-stricken and homeless live better lives than those in the 3rd world), is because of those who made the choice to fight for our country, serve our country, and sacrifice for our country (and their families who too often have to make extreme sacrifices during their service).

And... Thank You

Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light

What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?

Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?

And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.

Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,

Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,

What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,

As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:

'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore

That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,

A home and a country should leave us no more!

Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand

Between their loved home and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land

Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.

Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,

And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."

And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!