Military Appreciation Week

It was brought to my attention on FaceBook that this week is Military Appreciation Week. As the wife of a solider, I want to take the time to say thank you, not only to the military personnel, but also to the families of those that serve or have served in the military.

Too often, a lot of the hoopla goes toward the personnel that are serving our great nation. But what about the family that is standing behind them? The whole family makes sacrifices on a daily basis. When they are here "at home", it's not a 9 to 5 job. Often it's late or early hours, six or seven days a week. They can be called off at a moments notice. Schedules are often moved around. Planning family time is a tentative thing.

Now, I am not saying that there are not families in the civilian world that are not just like this, but what I am wanting to point out is when you thank that serviceman in his uniform, look over his shoulder and thank the family that you see behind him. When you see a yellow ribbon on someone's clothes, thank them for their support too.

I have lived in a military town all my life. It's just in the last five years that I have truly lived a military family life. My grandparents were in the military, my parents chose not to. I had friends come and go through the years because either their parents were military or they married into the military. It is a sacrifice for the WHOLE family. Wives and mothers have to be able to take care of everything one day and allow their husbands (or the other way around) to take care of stuff the next. Vacations can be ruined, recitals missed, births and birthdays too. It doesn't matter if the nation is at war or not, those sacrifices are made.

I just want to say thank you to ALL FAMILIES of the United States Military.

For Remembrance Day and Veterans Day....

For Remembrance Day and Veterans Day.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools . . And colleges

Back in September, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social
studies school teacher at Robinson High School, did something not to be
forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the school
superintendent, the principal and the building supervisor, she removed all
of the desks out of her classroom.

When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there
were no desks.

'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'

She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the
right to sit at a desk.'

They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.'

'No,' she said.

'Maybe it's our behavior.'

She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period.
Still no desks in the classroom.

By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in
Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken
all the desks out of her room.

The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats
on the floor of the deskless classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout
the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn
the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom.
Now I am going to tell you.'

At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and
opened it.

Twenty-seven (27) War Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that
classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the
school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside
the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place
those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their
lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..

Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These
heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to
you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good
students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have
the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the
freedoms we have in Canada and The United States were earned by War
Veterans.

***This was sent to my email today and I thought that I would share this with my readers. It brought tears to my eyes and something that I wish that I could have done with a class of mine when I was teaching.

In honor of Veteran's Day, I am having a 20% off sale in my Artfire Shop. Just use the coupon code "veterans" upon check out! Good November 11th til November 13th.

ENJOY!