Freedom Is Not Free...

I haven't been able to forget this picture since I snapped it this past Tuesday night at a local

restaurant - Texas Steakhouse, to be exact. 

Why don't we see a wall like this everywhere we go? 

It's beautiful, it's patriotic, and it serves as a great reminder...  

A reminder that freedom is not free. 

 

Jordan was a Marine. He was one of the few. The proud. The brave. 

That was - before he died June 18, 2009. 

 

Corporal Jordan Paul Amos

06/19/1983 – 06/18/2009

 

No words.  That is what I have right now. 

I don't remember ever saying 'thank you' to him.  Maybe I did...but I can't remember.

And it kills me...  How could I have not said thank you - for the sacrifices he made...

Sacrifices he made for me...and anybody else who reads this.

No words...

 

The tears.  Sometimes I just can't control them. 

When I think about Jordan.  When I think about what was left unsaid.

When I think about other men and women in the military. 

 

I wish I could thank every single one of them. 

Thank them for all the sacrifices they make.

Thank them for the courage they show.

Thank them for the freedom they fight to provide me and those I love.

 

And then more tears.

That's what happens when I think about their families.

Their parents, wives & husbands, and children.

All the ones left behind.

The ones waiting daily - anxiously waiting for any news.

The ones who don't always get the news they want to hear...

 

A simple 'thank you' seems so inadequate... 

But, that's all I have. 

All I can do is say thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thank you for enduring what I don't think I could.

Thank you for being strong for me.

For us all.

 

This video gets me every single time...

Grab a tissue.  Or a box.