Veterans Day 2014

I left this as a draft until today but I think I want to share it even though it's over seven months old.  Lee Ann, 7-6-15

Ten years.  It seems surreal.  The last few days have just been just:  outside of time.  I don't know how to describe this.  We've been doing things we don't normally do in anticipation of this date, not just because of Thomas but because it is Veterans Day.  And Remembrance Day.  We are caught forever in that split personality of honoring the living while remembering our own fallen soldier.  Today the weather has been unusually warm and sunny for November.  As I type, the Concert for Valor is unfolding on the National Mall under cloudy but not rainy skies.  My kids are down there in the VIP area, courtesy of TAPS.  I'm watching HBO.  For the last couple of days I have been wearing my Gold Star banner pin, something I don't do often and worry about when I do.  This weekend I put it on and just let it be, mostly just not giving it another thought.  No one said anything--not sure if that makes me happy or sad.

On Saturday night, my husband and I, along with four other Gold Star Mothers and spouses went to a dinner held by the American Veterans Center, honoring veterans from World War II to the War on Terror.  It was an incredibly touching evening.