Mea culpa. I have not blogged in so long that I am almost ashamed to show my face, figuratively speaking of course. I won’t bore you with the reasons; we all pass through some dark valleys now and then, since this is Earth, not Heaven.
I am grateful to say that I have emerged from the most recent passage stronger, wiser and with gifts I could never have anticipated. More on that later.
Today, I want to celebrate all the brave and honorable men and women who put their lives on the line to preserve the freedoms too many of us–including myself at times–take for granted. They leave their homes, their families, their friends and cherished pets to serve this troubled but miraculous country, with all its inherent faults and blessings, within its borders and far beyond. From that first fist, slammed down on a table in some tavern in Lexington or Concord or elsewhere, from that first, “hell, no!”, there have been soldiers, willing to establish and then preserve that most fragile of treasures: liberty.
And to all of them, past, present and future, I say, THANK YOU.
Seems to me, we’re a pretty cranky country these days, though. Isn’t it time we remembered that we are ALL Americans? We are facing some monumental challenges, ones we can and MUST meet, but here we are, more divided than we have been in a very long time, shouting each other down, making the next person wrong, just because they have the unmitigated gall to disagree with us. Excuse me, but isn’t that one of the best things about America? The right to freedom of speech, freedom of thought? People, of course, you have a right to your opinion–but for heaven’s sake, so does the next person!
Okay, my Veteran’s Day blog has turned into something of a rant.
And some of the finest people ever to grace this planet have given their all to make that all right.
I will close with one of my favorite quotes of all time:
I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
So there.
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.
