All our Veterans have one, a date or time frame, that they will never forget.  And sadly, some have more than one.  Theses dates are reminders of their loss, suffering, pain and more…..

Last Monday at our fundraiser, I was talking to one of our Veterans Mike (paired with Barrett). While asking him how things were going, he mentioned that “things are going good…..but my Alive date is this Sunday”…. Alive date?  “Well, that is what Mollie (his wife) calls it” .… It took awhile for this to sink in.

That simple 1 minute conversation stayed with me all week. Thinking about Mike, and all the others. Sunday morning came and I knew I wanted to reach out to Mike.  I picked up the phone (twice) and hung up in tears before I could talk. I wasn’t calling to say Happy Birthday, or Congrats…it wasn’t a day I am sure he wanted to celebrate. But thinking about it more, it should be a day for him to celebrate, at least to celebrate life. I called Mike then and barley got out what I wanted to say in one deep breathe. “Thank you for your Service Mike. I wanted to acknowledge that today especially. I, for one, am happy you are alive.”

That was all I could muster out. See, I have a different perception of this. We, as a family, do not get to have a ‘Alive Day’. And as our date draws near (loss, pain, grief) my heart breaks all over again. But the little pieces of life lessons come shinning through and I urge all our Veterans and families  all to have and celebrate a ‘Alive Day’.