A Simple Thanks

A few weeks ago we were coming home late from somewhere (don't remember where) and saw our neighbor outside mowing her grass. As we pulled into the driveway she ran over and asked if we were putting the kids to bed and wanted to know if the mower was too loud and, if so, she would stop. How courteous is that!! She mentioned that she was the one mowing because her fiance was on deployment but would be coming home soon. A few days ago we noticed a "Welcome Home" banner on their garage and figured he was home, and we wanted to do something. 

I grew up in El Paso which is home to Ft. Bliss. I also lived in Albuquerque which is home to Kirtland Air Force Base. Both times, however, I lived on the other side of town from the bases and very rarely actually saw people in uniform. Now we live very close to both McCord AFB and Ft. Lewis so I see people in uniform all the time. I always have an internal dialogue, "Go say thanks. Go say thanks!!"; then I keep walking and say, "You big chicken!" 

When we saw the banner though I knew I wanted to tell our neighbor thanks so I went and bought a pie (you know, I don't cook for people) and a very low amount gift certificate to Olive Garden. The kids and I took it over to our neighbors yesterday and told the soldier thanks for keeping us safe. 

Today the doorbell rang and I opened the door to see about 10 men including my neighbor. He informed me that these men were members of his team and they wanted to say thanks for the pie. He had a thank you card that they all signed, and I just thought that was so cute. Something he said really struck me though. He said, "Thanks for the appreciation."

Thanks for the appreciation!!

There was a time in our country when service members were looked up to, not looked to as someone to spit upon. We need to get back to the old days. If you see someone in uniform, give them a simple thanks. . .I bet they could use the appreciation.