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It's Veteran's Day and you might be wondering what a photo of my son behind a giant wooden trout has to do with anything.
The funny thing is, fish remind me of my favorite Veteran.
Grandpa, I love you and I thank you. It was Providential that today took us to a fish hatchery; when I look at the speckled scales of trout I think of you. I think of the summers you spent in Montana getting a suntan and viciously protecting your secret fishing spots from strangers with Uncle Arnold. I think of the stories you tell of hiking to isolated lakes in the mountains when you were younger and crazier. Or maybe just younger. You probably wouldn't have connected these dots yourself, but your sacrifice made a trip to the fish hatchery with my boys possible.
Freedom is not just an abstract term evoking flags and John Phillips Sousa. Freedom effects everything, every aspect of living, even the bizarre days that involve fish sculptures.
That's the thing about sacrifice, when you lay down your life for others, it reaches farther than you could ever imagine on your own. It reaches beyond the obvious blessings of a life unhindered by tyranny. Somehow, so many years later, it can reach a person's great grandchildren visiting the fish hatchery, and it can reach their granddaughter, who did her best to keep everyone from falling in fish water.
Perhaps you weren't expecting to be praised in the company of a giant wooden fish, but it's my philosophy that thanks can be given anywhere, under any circumstance.
I hope you know, Grandpa, how much you have touched our lives. My life. My children's life. I hope you know I think of you with love and thankfulness...especially when fish are around.
Happy Veteran's Day.
Linking with Flowerpatch Farmgirl (Patchy, as I call her in my head and sometimes to her face) for Money Shot Monday. Check out her blog, she's delicious!
