the patriots left behind

i'm sitting here on memorial day watching all the posts online people make to our veteran's which are important and well deserved. but i wonder if people know the difference between veteran's day and memorial day.

this woman knows:

i'm 38 & a half years old, and i've lived just about as great a life as possible. sure, some can point out many things i have or don't have, but in the end i am free and i am loved and i am happy - and i'm alive.

a lot of people want to make a big deal about how important their lives are and how they deserve better or won't be treated a certain way or this or that. people who sit home alone and friendless because they are certainly right about life, women who cheat on the men they claim to love because they think they deserve more or can get away with a lie, men who think they're a big deal and can treat their wives like crap, people who can't be happy or respect what they have. no one understands all we have more than someone who was loyal in the face of all they wanted, someone who gave up someone they love and assumed they would return to them, and they never did.

life isn't hard, just love one another. i'm no hippie tree hugger, i'm not all about peace and love, but sometimes life is simple. wealth and image and jealousy and pride - all nice to have. but certainly not the most important thing in life.

i will go on forever as a single childless man (as horrific as that sounds to my mother), as long as i know i can keep the people i love in my life. i value people, and even if you're someone who doesn't, we all have to respect those who gave their lives for ours. we have to respect those left alone because the person they love went off to defend us all. and never came back.

to those who gave their lives, and especially for those left behind - thank you.