It's not until you are personally affected by life in the military that you fully think about the Patriotic holidays we celebrate in our nation. I have always teared up when they have those who have served in the military in the audience at Sea World stand up. I have always appreciated songs that celebrate our great land. I have always admired the families that say goodbye to their soldiers as they deploy and my heart is always full when I see them reunited. Now we are one of those families. It feels a little different, since Pete's job does not require him to be in harms way, but nonetheless, we are a military family. We sacrifice much in order for Pete to do a job that serves our nation and protect's all of our freedom. Every person in the military, regardless of how dangerous their job is, serves an important purpose. We are entering our third week without him. The boys have done remarkably well, and really only mention him in their prayers at night ("And bless dad that he'll have fun at the Navy. And run really fast and do tons of pushups"). And I've done remarkably well too, keeping busy and staying focused on just being present for my boys. I like having goals to work on at night after the kids are asleep. I miss him, I'm proud of him, and I am thankful for all the other families that are willing to sacrifice for this line of work as well. I have a new compassion and understanding for what it means to say that I'm proud to be an American. At the Kids Sing concert last week, Denise and I sang that Lee Greenwood song. I was a little choked up at first, but got through. Here's a clip...
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