Thanksgiving….Smile Because It Happened

The holidays are here and with them my moments of deep sadness and great joy. I guess in a way I am grateful for the sadness because it means my love for Micheal is still alive and that for too short of time I was blessed to have him in my life. I tell his friends “Don’t Cry because its over Smile because it happened” Well I am doing both.. I smile because my son’s life happened and it touched so many lives… but I cry because it was over too soon.

This will be our fifth Thanksgiving with an empty seat at our table.

The first one Micheal was in Iraq. I remember he told me that he had not even realized it was Thanksgiving day until someone had said something on the radio. They had been on a mission. He also said it had been a “very bad day” and he would tell me about it when he got home. I never did find out what had happened that day.

I truly try to “count my blessings” this time of year. Not that I am not grateful every day for the many blessings in my life. Even with the pain and emptiness of losing Micheal we have things and people to be grateful for. I could list the people who have come into our lives but I fear two things if I try to do that… one; I will leave someone out and two; this blog post would reach about 30,000 words. So I shall keep in some what general….

I am grateful for my family who came together to hold each other up. We have each had our dark days and we have each leaned on each other to share the strength of our family.

I am grateful for all those who serve. whether I have met them our not they are my family. Those who knew my son (if even only on that fateful day in those final moments) who have embraced us and allowed us to become their friends and remain in their lives mean so much more than word can express to me. They have truly keep me sane and given me some purpose. They have taught me that as long as I can care for those who serve I am honoring my son in the most important way Our Fallen can be honored.

I am grateful to those people in Iraq and Afghanistan who have taken up the fight on their own behalf and denounced the evil done in the name of their faith. They prove to me that my son did not die for not. That he helped plant the seeds of hope and freedom and encouraged those people to fight for the freedom so many here in the US take for granted.

I am grateful for all the arguing and bickering here in the US because it proves we are still free and can disagree without fear of being hung by our government.