Veteran's Day!

Today is Veteran's Day...so i thought there couldn't be a better reason/ excuse to tell my favorite veteran how much i appreciate him and how much I LOVE HIM.

I have said before that i am so grateful for the equal amount of hello's to Goodbye's we have experienced. many we know were rocked by the loss and will forever be changed.

I know what you are thinking...how old was Matthew in that picture??he looks 12! well aside from his fantastic genetic ability to never look aged, he was very young. 18 to be exact. I remember the day his mother and I dropped him off at the recruiters office to be taken to boot camp. I remember not being sad until we had to leave him there. we stayed til the last minute and then the group of new Marine recruits had to start out to MCRD San Diego. I remember driving away with the realization that i didn't know what they would do to him...morbid, i know. Not even matthew knew.I prayed the whole way home that the Lord would watch over him whatever lie ahead of him.

Many of you know the story of boot camp and how the "English's" came to be so I'll leave out those details, maybe for another day.

I had someone ask me recently if i had ever seen someone , i think she said emotionally beaten, exhausted...something like that. i always chuckle when i hear that (surprisingly i hear it often) because i cant count the times i have picked Matthew up from boot camp, training or a return from Iraq that he has not been emotionally beaten as well as physically exhausted. Boot camp was no different, if not the worst. Matthews family can tell you the man we picked up from boot camp was thin, quiet and broken. all the while strong.

He served as a United States Marine for 5 years. 1 tour in Afghanistan, 2 tours in Iraq and countless training exercises later he is a seasoned war veteran. He has seen things i hope to NEVER see in my life time and has made choices that i wouldn't want to make and made some choices that have changed his life forever. He is brave, steady and true. Once dressed in his uniform he bears a colorful chest of metals, awards and stars.

My veteran is my hero , he served well. i thank him for his great service for me and my boys and for this country. i thank him for enduring many days of emotional turmoil and physical pain on this countries behalf. i wish for a word that could describe this great man. since that word doesn't exist yet...Thank You!

Thank You babe for your service I will be forever indebted to you and all those who made that sacrifice for me. I Love you!!

( and it is true what they say...a man in a uniform!!! oh yeah!!!) i know over share!!! sorry!!!