Today is Veterans Day in the United States. It’s a day in which we take time to honor the men and women who have served in the military. It’s a day that I’m pretty sure a lot of us just take for granted.

Sorry, that was my dominant, cynical side talking. I’d like to hope that we don’t just take days like Veterans Day for granted. I’d like to hope that we don’t take for granted the sacrifices that these men and women have made by giving up their time and energy and, in many cases, their friends and family to make it possible for us to take our freedoms for granted.

To the men and women that are recognized on this day, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s no secret that I’m often disappointed with many of the leaders that we have elected to public office. But what you, our veterans, have done is make it possible for us to continue voting for those leaders. You make it possible for us to make our voices heard. You make it possible for us to choose our own path. You make it possible for us to sit at home and feel a little bit safer.

I’m not ashamed to admit… Whenever I see a video of men and women coming home and surprising their loved ones after serving in some branch of the military I cry. In fact, that’s probably the quickest way to make me cry. So I thought I’d share that with you today…

I like how, in the second video, the older guy in the yellow shirt just seems completely unimpressed.

Feature Photo by Thomas Loizeau on Unsplash