Not Just Any Holiday

Every year around this time, I get so annoyed by the fact that retail stores just skip over my favorite holiday and bring out the Christmas stuff! Ugh! How rude! Yeah, I love Christmas and all, but if I had to choose I would go with the less retail-friendly Thanksgiving. My recent frustration though wasn’t about that holiday.

I went to CVS pharmacy in search of things to throw my money away on. I can’t explain how I’ll go there to pick up toothpaste and leave with tubes of lip gloss and the latest bronzer. You know you do it, too! But this time, I was searching for something important – a Veteran’s Day card for my big brother. He’s served over 20 years as a Marine and is a veteran of both Iraq wars. A card in recognition of his service is the least I could do. So imagine my disbelief when I noticed that, while I can stock up on my Christmas cards almost a full 2 months in advance, there were no cards to honor our Vets (the military kind, not the animal kind). I guess this is bad at any time, but while we have military overseas fighting 2 wars with some serving multiple deployments? Unfathomable.

I don’t know who’s head to bite off because of this. Is it CVS or the American people? The assumption is that the demand will dictate the supply. Do we, as Americans, not acknowledge this holiday? I mean, there is no shortage of veterans walking around these days and surely their families will appreciate the recognition of their sacrifice of being close to their loved ones on holidays, birthdays, first days of school, etc. I’m so bold as to say we all know someone who knows a veteran, right? So, in theory, there should be plenty of cards to choose from at the store.

Maybe I’m a little over-the-top about this, who knows. But I know what it’s like to have a loved one fighting a war overseas. In short - it’s damn hard. Hard on you, hard on your kids, hard on the extended family. And we’re not the ones away from home. The least we can do is acknowledge that and do a little more than sit at home on our day off and watch Maury without a second thought as to why we're home in the first place.

So, to that end, I'm sharing some things to do on Veteran’s Day:

• Send an E-Card to a Vet you know or to their family in appreciation for their sacrifice. http://ecards.military.com/postcard-direct/holiday_cards.htm#veterans


• Send a global pre-paid phone card to a Vet so they can call home from Kuwait, Afghanistan, or Iraq. https://thor.aafes.com/scs/default.aspx


• Send a Thank You card to any wounded Service Member to let them know you care. Address the card to:

Any Recovering American Soldier c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue NW
Washington, D.C. 20307-5001

• Visit http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/ for Local Veteran's Day Activities and Information

They don’t ask for special treatment, but they deserve it and I’m sure it will be much appreciated. Don’t forget to thank a Vet!