their day



"As we express our gratitude,

we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words,

but to live by them."

(JFK)

today is the day we say thank you to those that have served and continue to serve.

so on this day we say...

- we love you tyler, we are so very proud of you, and we think about you all of the time while you are at basic training. i have always thought about what you are up to, but now i think of you more consistently and wonder if you are running, doing push-ups, getting to sleep, if the food is ok, etc. i often wonder where this journey will take you. you are now the one person that i send mail to each and every week, i plan for that to the case for a long time to come. it has been so good to hear your voice the couple of times that i have got to talk with you. we can't wait to see you next month. we love you, hang in there, you can do this.

- we miss you jamie (and thank you for serving in the navy), samantha, and kyrstin. we wish that we could keep you all with us here all of the time. we are happy that you are back in a home and town that you know. we hope that the adjustment is going well (minus the awful nachos you had) for all of you. we love you, hang in there, you can do this.

- we wonder where you are kevin, but not knowing where you are is the point, right? we are very proud of you and miss seeing your smiling face and red hair at family events. i often think about where you are in the world, but am always comforted by knowing that i may not know where you are, but i do know you are ok and that we share the same sky. we love you, hang in there, you can do this.

- to all of our other family members and friends who have served, those physically here with us and those with us in spirit, we thank you for the time that you dedicated to serving in the military. we remember you on this day and we say thank you.

as i write this and watch malena all cuddled up in her blankets watching her cartoons, i am thankful for all of those that have served to allow us to have a morning as easy as this one.

i hope that you all in some way say thank you as well to all of those that have served for you.

photo by denise hamilton, very proud mom of tyler who will graduate from basic training in the air force in two weeks (yay tyler!!!)