Veterans Day

I do not come from a military family. No one in my immediate family is in the armed forces. I look at my three young adult sons and humbly realize that had they been born in a different time, they could be serving or dying in a foreign land.

Today, instead of formally observing the day, Bill and I went hiking with our friends Fred and Lisa, who were off work for Veterans Day. We took our dogs to a park for a short hike on this chilly day. And I got to thinking. We enjoy the freedoms of worship, work, where to live and even hiking with our dogs in this great country. A country that countless thousands have and continue to defend. And died for. Some didn't have the choice to serve, but many do. And still, they leave the comfort and security of home and family to risk their lives. For me. And you.

Freedom. It isn't free, and I'm thankful to veterans for the price paid for it. God bless them. And God bless America.



a Veterans Day hike