[Image credit: Tim Beach]

Today is a National Holiday to remember those who’ve served our country in maintaining its freedom.  My dad enlisted in the Navy when he was still a teenager and traveled overseas on an aircraft carrier in World War II.  Many of the stories he regaled me with while I was growing up are still etched in my memory.  When I played taps on my trumpet as a girl, his eyes would glaze over and I’d lose him momentarily; the sound of low-flying planes overhead turned his thoughts inward.  To this day, each time I perform the side stroke in my pool, I imagine my dad doing this same thing almost 70 years ago, a cigarette balanced between his lips.  And I’m fascinated by ships.  I toured the Queen Mary in Long Beach (where my dad and mom once lived) and absorbed the history of the Titanic Exhibit in Vegas.  I think it’s because I’m my father’s daughter.

Is there a vet in your life who you remember today?