Around the world, November 11 is set aside as a day to remember.
Commonwealth countries call it Remembrance Day or Armistice Day, to honor those died in the line of duty and recall the end of WWI, but in the US, it’s Veteran’s Day, which is aimed at honoring the men and women who have served in our military.*
As I mentioned in a previous post, it happens to also be my anniversary. My husband was active duty USAF at the time (now retired) and because it fell on a Friday, he was able to take that day off without requesting extra leave, since we were using up his actual leave days for our honeymoon. 🙂 Hey, we’re practical people.
But over the years, we developed a response for those who tell us “Thank you for your service” on this day.
“It was our honor to serve.”
I was the spouse, not the active duty member, but any spouse of a career service member will tell you, we provided the support for that service.
We kept their lives in order and paid the bills while they worked through an ops pace that wore them down to the nubs. We potty trained the toddlers while they were deployed on the other side of the world. We watched the news out of the corners of our eyes rather than facing the screen head on, just in case we heard something that would keep us up at night, staring into the dark as we waited for them to return.
Yet despite the hard parts, despite the deployments and the puzzling roadblocks of traditions we were never trained to navigate, we didn’t waver. We did our job. We worked alongside, we supported, and, in a different, smaller way, we served.
There is no hint of stolen valor when I answer those who thank him… who thank us… for our service.
It was our honor.
*Veteran’s Day honors the living. It is not the same thing as Memorial Day in May (USA), which is for remembering those who died in service to their country.
Loom Blossom 