Gratitude: The Beach

I always struggle with how to “celebrate” Veteran’s Day. The sacrifice that so many men and women and their families make year after year floors me. I’m humbled, but also always struck with a tinge of sadness too. What a world we live in that moms and dads, sons and daughters, sister and brothers, dear friends have to put themselves on the line to attempt to keep the peace. I have mixed emotions about it all.  At the root of all of my feelings, though, is a flood of gratitude. Huge, heaping piles of gratitude.

Getting a day off from school and work, we joined another family and did a mini-vacation at the beach. I took a ton of pictures during the 93 minutes of no rain on Friday. It was bitter cold, but beautiful. When we got back inside to warm up, Tom put on a slideshow of pictures from a year ago that day. We’ve been doing that every day, looking at the pictures and videos from New Zealand last year.  I was struck by the similarities of our activities on the whole other side of the world last year on Veteran’s Day. Frolicking on a beach, together, the three of us. . . fully embracing the wonder of our freedoms, the joy of our family, the beauty of this world. And, so, I think perhaps that may be the best way for me to celebrate those who sacrificed their lives, their safety, their family-time. . . to fully embrace MY life and safety and family. To go to the beach, breathe deeply, close my eyes and appreciate all of it.  Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude.

*Pictures above are from Veteran’s Day 2011 in La Push, Washington*

Veteran’s Day 2010
Gisbourne New Zealand

Gisborne a video by RhubarbSky on Flickr.