Appreciate and thank a veteran, it might just make their day!!
As I celebrated my son's graduation this weekend, many thoughts went through my mind prior and while celebrating. I had to make sure that my wounded warrior (my husband), felt safe going there. You are asking why? Let me tell you part of his story. The headline could be: Life after the military, the battle goes on.
The last deployment changed my husband, not just physically but mentally. Life has been completely changed for us and my husband needs constant care. He can't work anymore, which makes life very challenging for us.
Arrival at the airport meant stress for my husband, which can set off seizures. We got there and I talked to the airline, they made sure he could board first, could find the seat he needed to keep his stress level as low as possible. Even security worked with us and got us through as fast as possible. They thanked him for his service. One plane even announced that they had service members on board and there was a round of applause for them. He was validated, it meant so much to him.
Arriving at the Air Force Base, we were able to stay on the base, which made him feel secure. During the graduation, he had active duty soldiers come up to him, thanking him for his duty, shaking his hand. Total strangers in San Antonio came up to him and thanked him. One person on a bike, even made sure he had a disabled parking spot. He saw us parking where we had to pay, he stopped us stated "no, do you have a sticker ?" husband said yes. The man went over the street, blocked a handicapped spot, and told me to park there. And then thanked my husband. On top of that our son looked at him and told him he understood him. They had military lingo to talk over and I just sat back and enjoyed. We had 6 incidents where he was close to seizing , but we got him out of the situation, calmed him down and were able to enjoy 2 days with our son.
We know his body and mind are worn out and hurting him, with everything he has seen and experienced in his 27 years of active duty, but this weekends validation meant the world to him.
The last deployment changed my husband, not just physically but mentally. Life has been completely changed for us and my husband needs constant care. He can't work anymore, which makes life very challenging for us.
Arrival at the airport meant stress for my husband, which can set off seizures. We got there and I talked to the airline, they made sure he could board first, could find the seat he needed to keep his stress level as low as possible. Even security worked with us and got us through as fast as possible. They thanked him for his service. One plane even announced that they had service members on board and there was a round of applause for them. He was validated, it meant so much to him.
Arriving at the Air Force Base, we were able to stay on the base, which made him feel secure. During the graduation, he had active duty soldiers come up to him, thanking him for his duty, shaking his hand. Total strangers in San Antonio came up to him and thanked him. One person on a bike, even made sure he had a disabled parking spot. He saw us parking where we had to pay, he stopped us stated "no, do you have a sticker ?" husband said yes. The man went over the street, blocked a handicapped spot, and told me to park there. And then thanked my husband. On top of that our son looked at him and told him he understood him. They had military lingo to talk over and I just sat back and enjoyed. We had 6 incidents where he was close to seizing , but we got him out of the situation, calmed him down and were able to enjoy 2 days with our son.
We know his body and mind are worn out and hurting him, with everything he has seen and experienced in his 27 years of active duty, but this weekends validation meant the world to him.
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