Patriotic holidays are a funny thing.
It's one of a few times a year where we remember.
Where we publicly state our gratitude.
The moments we thank those who did what we don't.
And there's nothing wrong with that.
We celebrate patriotism with more holidays than motherhood.
But I am increasingly aware that perhaps its a daily thing.
I had this experience once, and I don't tell you this to celebrate how great I was-I heard someone else do the same so I effectively ripped this idea off-feel free to rip it off from me now. I was in Wendy's one day-it was a March, I bought Girl Scout cookies outside of the grocery store that day. I don't know why I recall that other than to say it was not Veterans Day, Memorial Day of the Fourth of July. (And don't ask me why I know what month Girl Scout cookies are for sale. Some things are sacred.)
I collected my order and noticed an elderly man and his wife sitting at the table by the door. He was wearing a coat with some sort of patches on it and a hat that clearly identified his as a World War II Veteran. I paused, thinking twice, second guessing, hoping I wasn't being inappropriate. He was taking his very sweet time with every bite and it was clear he was not in the same shape he once had been. I approached the table gently and asked him if I may interrupt enough to thank him for his service. He seemed surprised and his wife smiled with the slightest of tear in her eyes. I left them to their lunch and went about my day. It cost me nothing but felt more valuable than most things I did that week.
Here's the thing.
I need people in the world like this.
We need people who will run towards the thing-
The thing most of us run away from.
I like to think he needed me to thank him as well.
It's debatable whether or not I personally, in my life, needed this specific man to take his place in World War II to secure my very existence in this world. But I can say without a doubt that I need the men and women who stand guard where I won't, who volunteered where I wouldn't, who do the things many of us are afraid of. I sleep better at night and our children live in a safer, more free world than we would if it weren't for those people. My dad was in the Air Force-he never saw foreign land but he was a computer engineer doing what he could to support those who were in the line of fire. I have many friends and loved ones who have fought on the ground, worked behind the scenes or simply supported their husbands, wives or children as they stood in the line of fire. For all of you, I am eternally grateful and I need you in this world.
I also like to think that man in Wendy's needed me.
We all need to be seen, loved, respected.
It's human nature.
I needed to feel gratitude...
He needed me to share mine with him.
Perhaps his wife needed to hear it as well.
The point is this...we all need something from the people around us. We are not here on this Earth to have solitary lives. We come into this world in families, we live in societies, in groups, in cultures. We cannot self sustain without other people in the world. I need my grocery store clerk, my cousin the farmer, my uncle the police man, my friend the mom, the teacher, the clerk at the post office. And it's perhaps time we remember how much we're grateful for those around us.
We NEED us.
We cannot live healthy full lives without US.
We all contribute to the global us.
So thank someone today.
If you can find a Veteran, thank them.
Find someone in your day you are grateful for...
And tell them.
Many military personnel have walked by me without me taking a moment to thank them and each time it happens-whether I'm out of breath, have my hands full or just feel timid...I always wish I had spoken up.
Speak up.
We need them.
And they need us.
-McGee
