Veteran's Month.
We have yet to enjoy all the videos (and hopefully there are still more coming...we'll share whatever we get, whenever we get it!). There is no real deadline with this!
Many people have asked what my connection to military service is. Honestly, it's pretty loose. I have cousins who served, and a grandfather and father-in-law who became veterans before I was born. I'm not from a "military family," per se.
What I do have is a healthy dose of regret.
Glenn Bicker, my grandfather, was an exceptional man. Quietly strong, deeply kind, and loved the heck out of his family. He tried to share his experiences as a SeaBee during WWII with his grandkids, but we weren't super receptive. I can't give 16 year old Katie too much of a hassle about that, though. She was living through that (very real) teenage angst, and I think it's fair to give her a pass if she wasn't as attentive to the 75 year old sharing stories that seem completely irrelevant. My older cousin's teacher, however, must have known this. She assigned an interview with a military veteran, and as my cousin lived in Kansas and Grandpa was in Garfield Hts., OH (3 doors down from me...a magical childhood situation), he shared his reflections on a cassette tape. It was later converted to a CD, and now, provided we can secure a CD player, we can hear his raspy, gravelly voice telling about his personal experiences in the service. It is, without a doubt, one of my most cherished possessions.
Roy Sierleja, my father-in-law, was also exceptional. Fiercely loyal to family and country, a wit and charm that softened the most challenging of personalities, and deeply loving to his wife, son, grandson, and his very lucky daughter-in-law. He served in Korea during the Vietnam War. This is where my regret really sits. Had I just thought of this Veterans Month a few years earlier, it would have been the Roy Sierleja show (I mean that in the best way). He was a gifted speaker, and if asked to speak on serving his country, he would have done so with a passion and excitement that would fully engage every pre-teen in front of him. Not getting him on video talking about it--that's a bummer.
Everything in life is perspective, and without it we can easily go into self-indulgence mode (I'm pretty skilled at that, unfortunately). But listening to Grandpa's CD, many years later, opened my brain to some undeniable truths. Grandpa and Roy served, just like their fellow servicemen and women, in circumstances far from comfortable or convenient. They did it without complaint and with the greater good in mind. My bad days are most peoples' dream. So I think that's probably where this Veterans Month idea developed. Perspective lends itself to gratitude, and gratefulness is a game-changer. We would all do well to approach everyone we meet, and every experience we have, with gratitude for the people who gave us the life we are fortunate to live. Especially our past and current servicemen and women.
My grateful list is unending, and one of the things I'm most thankful for is this job I have, getting to see the best of humanity in some beautiful moments, while noticing and helping to adjust when things aren't so pretty. Thank you for trusting me with your best things. I don't take a second of it for granted!