There
are some people who are born with a capacity to lay it all on the line
that surpasses bravery. Any day of the week I can risk my life for one
of my grand-children or children, my husband, parents, etc... There are
people who, as their primary occupation, will risk their lives for
perfect strangers, people of countries other than their own, and even a
wounded enemy, and not just in one moment of a short lived disaster or
accident such as a house fire or car wreck, but they will wake up every
day... "willing." Deliberately they stand between threat and danger and
me and mine, and for the rest of the world as well. On an ongoing
basis, and they think of it as "just doing my job," they are "willing."
Their
families are affected by their willingness, but in both positive and
negative ways, and because of what they witness in the lives of "the
willing," they are enriched in ways that only family members of "the
willing" can be. Their family members share their everyday lives with a
living, breathing, genuine hero, and that impacts a person, empowers
and inspires their loved ones. Because they are willing to do what the
majority of people would never commit to, we all have the freedom to
achieve the destiny we would select for ourselves... and inch by inch...
the rest of the world is being affected by their stand.
Daily
there is criticism from the uninformed, the miss-informed, and the run
of the mill idiots, it just rolls off their backs, and when the
aforementioned get themselves in a jam... or the enemy is wounded ....
in need of care... being who they are...
There
cannot be too many words of praise, there cannot be too frequent a
mention of their deeds, there cannot be too much made of their loss from
this world when one of them willingly makes the ultimate sacrifice. We
will be utterly lost if we fail in this obligation, if we fail to be
faithful to our own scared duty toward these men and women, and their
families. For as we celebrate their lives and their willingness, and
openly grieve at their separation from this world, we ensure that more
men and women with the same heart will answer the call to be "willing."
There is no currency or budget line item that can purchase a willing
heart, and the service of the man or woman who possesses it. It can
only be given.
Little girls and big girls too love to "play Barbies." One of the neat things I have done at the ranch for military families is just for the "girly girls" among our visitors. Actually, everyone is fascinated by the Barbie collection, and spending hours playing with the little toys engages children for hours.
