Veterans' Day

in honor of Veterans' Day, we've been reading a lot of books, doing a lot of activities, talking a lot about veterans' sacrifices for us to live the lives we lead. i slacked yesterday. i should've been outside, enjoying the beautiful fall weather that our deployed friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters (well, not for me, but some of you) cannot enjoy in iraq, afghanistan, or other military posts around the globe. i should've gone to arlington nat'l cemetery to pay my respects to our lost loved ones and those we never knew. (i went today instead. somber, chilly fall day.)

last week, as with every year, i read the wall by eve bunting to my class. for those of you that don't know, it's about a boy who visits the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial with his father. they look for his grandfather's name. maybe it's because the memorial still gives me chills everytime i see it. maybe it's bunting's phenomenal writing, or the somber illustrations. whatever it is, i can never get through the entire book without getting choked up. i read the book, and my voice gets softer and softer so it doesn't crack as the tears well up in my eyes. maybe those of you with more of a connection to that memorial, a lost loved one or friends can explain it to me.

call a friend. call a loved one. thank them for their sacrifice. the more i learn about what they've been through, the more blessed i feel that millions of brave men and women who don't know me do what they do for me.