I just got back from a Veterans Day event in Marysville, Ohio--the 7th graders did a wonderful job honoring our veterans. This is a day to celebrate and to remember. As I sit here in comfort and security, I am so thankful for all #veterans who have made my freedom, my country, and this good life possible. Let's start with my great-great-great-great-great (and more) grandfather, Abraham Mosier who enlisted in 1775 in the Revolutionary War.

Thank you Grandpa Mosier for believing in America! There was also Lewis Reahard, the brother of my great-great- grandmother, who fought for the Union and was wounded at the Battle of Stony River, Tennessee. Moving into the 20th Century, I want to thank Great Uncle Kenneth for his service in the U.S. Army in Europe during World War II---I should have asked you more questions while I had the chance. Dad--I appreciate the war stories you have shared with me (and that I recorded) about the Vietnam War and the truck you destroyed running over a landmine. I'm just grateful that you came home or I wouldn't be here today. I'd like to see Pleiku and Da Nang someday. Uncle Lynn, Uncle David, Uncle Ron, and my father-in-law Curt (who served during the Cuban Missile Crisis in the Strategic Air Command), are to be commended too. To my brother-in-law, Scott, thank you for your service in Iraq in the U.S. Army. This family has served their country well, and we are all indebted to you for our freedom today. Well done brave soldiers through the years.

One more note....at the event on a day like 11.11.11 -- I suppose I was thinking about time's passage and I was surprised to learn that, out of 100 veterans at the school this morning, only TWO were World War II veterans. Just a reminder that every day is a precious gift with our older veterans.