First, there are this week’s book winners: Rebecca Dudley and Melanie Whitmore. Congratulations, both of you! As always, there is a new contest already underway–two winners will be chosen at random, notified, and announced right here next Monday. All you have to do to enter is make a comment. (Sorry if I’m repeating myself, but this info is for newcomers to the blog. Welcome, one and all!)
There’s a second kind of winner I’d like to mention today, as you might have guessed by the title of this post, best conveyed by a story. (After all, that’s what I do best–tell stories. 🙂 )
Last week, after my dental appointment, I decided to do something I usually avoid like the proverbial plague: make a stop at Costco. I was pushing my cart around, and I passed the pharmacy, where I noticed one of the handsomest young men I’ve ever seen. He was smiling, well-groomed, chatting with his wife and with the clerk behind the counter, but I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to him, concentrating as I was on buying super-sized versions of my favorite products, as one does at Costco–except for the fact that he was sitting in a wheelchair. Both legs and one arm were gone, replaced by those new-style artifical limbs. Yet there he was, looking spiffy in a t-shirt and shorts, tanned and healthy.
Of course I didn’t want to stare, but I sure got a big lump in my throat as I nodded a howdy and looked away. I’m 99% sure he was a veteran, but even if he wasn’t, he was clearly a hero in the truest sense of the word. I had to ask myself–Would I be so brave, so happy, so obviously grateful, in his place? Or would I be curled up somewhere, in a fetal postion, feeling sorry for myself?
To tell you the uncomfortable truth, I’m not sure.
In that serendipitous way life has, I immediately came across an organization working hard to help our veterans readjust to civilian life–Team RWB (red, white and blue). These forward thinking, generous people offer all sorts of services, and give the rest of us a chance to show our support and compasson, either by volunteering, donating to the cause, or both. The organization can be found at www.TeamRWB.org.
I’ve believed for a long, long time that we need to provide a re-entry program for our veterans, and here is an outfit making a solid effort. To me, this isn’t a matter of politics–it’s a matter of people.
It’s a matter of love.
About Linda
The daughter of a town marshal, Linda Lael Miller is a #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author of more than 100 historical and contemporary novels, most of which reflect her love of the West.
Raised in Northport, Washington, Linda pursued her wanderlust, living in London and Arizona and traveling the world before returning to the state of her birth to settle down on a horse property outside Spokane.
