(this was 4th of July a few years back with our friends doing sparklers)
I LOVE AMERICA! I love it. I LOVE AMERICA. I may not agree with all the policies, wars, leaders, etc. BUT I love America. Now do I think America is the only great country? NO! I just feel so much pride and happiness LIVING in America. I feel blessed to have the privilege of walking on sovereign ground. To worship how I please. To have clean water, a good sturdy roof over my head, paved streets, the use of technology, the ability to get from one point of the country all the way across the continent in 4 or 5 hours if I need to, to be able to pray or speak the way I want to. I love that I am able to walk hand in hand with my children down the street and my husband too! I love that my husband can walk side by side with me and not in front of me. I love that my children have a chance to go to public school and college. I love that we have job opportunities (even if they are scarce right now). I love that I have gas to drive my car on the road... Okay you get the idea right?
(Hinks looks so young in this picture, but it is one of my favorites!)
I love that we have men and women who are willing to sacrifice SO MUCH to be in harms way so we can live a relatively peaceful and happy life. I have a new found respect and love for those who have served in the past and present and those who will continue to serve in the future. I have met men and women who have lost body parts, eye sight, hearing, the ability to love all in the name sake of war. I have been humbled by these meetings. I thank my Father in Heaven for my blessings. I recently read an article on PTSD (if you dont know what it is look it up). My eyes were soared open to this horrible tragedy that people go through. IT IS REAL! These men and women who go over to the sandbox SEE HORRIBLE things. Some get to the point that their "natural" high can only be obtained in a war zone. Can you imagine going from getting a natural high by going out with your family to the movies VS getting your high shooting and killing somebody? Some can't even leave their own apartments out of FEAR! It is a horrible disease that is affecting our soldiers!
(this was when Troy came home from basic and AIT!)
We haven't even mentioned how hard it is on when a soldier deploys! Do we even need to go there? Have I ever told you that no matter how tired I am I can not go to bed until after 10pm? You would probably be surprised to know the answer. If your soldier is killed in action they can not knock on your door to tell you after 10pm. NOW I KNOW TROY IS COMING HOME. NO DOUBT IN MY MIND. But it is psychological thing. My 4 year old wakes up in the middle of the night crying for his daddy. He asks me usually about once a day if his daddy is coming home safe. Even though I reassure him about ten times a day. Can you imagine the stress and anxiety this 4 year old has been through? Do I even need to say that my almost 18 month will not even know his daddy when he comes home? So much he has missed out on. Hinckleys first day of SCHOOL, Chandlers first words... Okay enough!
Why am I venting about this? Well, because I want you to know I AM PROUD TO BE AMERICAN. If you aren't then get the heck out of America. Don't criticize or ridicule people who love America. Majority of them have a reason to be proud. If somebody wants to color their house like the flag WHO CARES! If somebody wants to name their daughter Liberty because they feel it is an important part of who they are WHO CARES!
(Troy and the daddy bear the Hinckley has to sleep with EVERY NIGHT!)
I have 3 friends who have lost their loved ones to war. 1 a finance, 1 a spouse, and 1 a son. These are dear and good friends who I LOVE. So what if they plaster all of their mini-van in remembrance of so and so. Or have a big sign in their front yard that reads, "Are you thankful for your freedom? THANK YOUR MILITARY!" Don't you think we should have enough respect to not be judgmental of people who love America? You never know what trials or things they have been through. Maybe they are a refuge from Colombia who lived through drug wars, or a 63 year old man who lost his wife in the Vietnam war, or maybe just an average joe thankful to be American.
(A goodbye that would last 8 months!)
2 comments:
Very well said Bethany!! Its great the way you said it! Feel free to vent some more to those who need it! I know PTSD is real. I don't tell many people but my brother came home from Iraq in 2005 and suffered with PTSD. In 2007 we buried him. He left behind a wife and 2 small children who needed him. The more people relaize and know what our service men and women face coming home from a combat zone the more help we can give them. But know one wants to admit there is a problem. There is a huge problem with PTSD and its casualties are higher then that of both wars combined. When you posted about that pickup truck and that girl it made my blood boil just as much as yours was. Its a huge slap in the face when someone disrespects America and someones pride as she did.
You go Neffy! I have always been proud to be American...maybe growing up as a child in a military family instilled that in me, but maybe not...regardless of why I'm proud, I'm still proud! It either makes me tear up or makes my blood boil when I hear people who disrespect our military and all the work they do so that everyone else can live normal lives!
I once interviewed a soldier who had returned from 2 deployments to Iraq, and interviewing him was an eye-opening experience for me. His stories gave me chills, but not as much as the look in his eyes when he was telling me those stories. He was haunted, and I am sure he sufffered from PTSD.
God bless the USA, and God bless all the men and women who fight to keep us free - and God bless all the families who sacrifice their own happiness so that their loved ones can guarantee our liberty!
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