Could I tell you a little more about Victor and a few random thoughts?

If you read my post on Veterans Day, you know about a high school friend who died when an IED destroyed the vehicle he was riding in. The response to that post has been overwhelming. Surprisingly, readers often said to me, "thank you for sharing your memory of Victor with us." I didn't really think about the story of Victor's funeral -- a story that hits me to the very core -- being the way to share the story of our military personnel's sacrifices. I want to tell you a little more about Victor and some random thoughts.

Victor was actually sent back to the states due to some health concerns. I don't remember if he had diabetes or another health problem that concerned the military. He was told to work hard to get the condition under control if he wanted to return to active duty with his unit. From what I was told, he did everything that he needed to do to get healthy and to improve himself enough so that he was allowed to rejoin his unit. I can't imagine the pain his wife and mother felt watching him leave for war and then getting the news about his tragic death.

When you read my blog, think of this real life soldier as just one of many stories of the tremendous sacrifices that our military families go through. Rather than one day to honor veterans, we should honor veterans every day that we wake up with the glory of freedom in our country. I have two facebook friends -- both high school friends -- who are in the military. I hope that they know how much my family appreciates them. It was one of those facebook friends in the military who told me that they have a saying, "Care for the wounded and living because the dead have already made their way." Remember our military women and men in your prayers because they have to be tough to do the job for us.

Today, as I was driving for about five hours I had lots of time to think. How does the future change based on a person ceasing to live, ceasing to put events into motion, ceasing to prevent events from happening. If you remember in "It's a Wonderful Life" when Clarence the Angel gave George Bailey the gift of never having been born, every life that he would have touched was changed. The one that always strikes me as being the most ironic - and the most thought provoking - is the life of George's brother Harry.

When George saw Harry's tombstone indicating that he had drowned at the age of 9, he became upset and told Clarence "that's a lie! Harry Bailey went to war - he got the Congressional Medal of Honor, he saved the lives of every man on that transport." Now here is the part that amazes me. Clarence told him, "every man on that transport died! Harry wasn't there to save them, because you weren't there to save Harry." I know it's just a movie - albeit one of the greatest movies of all time - but the premise of the movie is food for thought.

How many lives are impacted by each of us every day? It's a huge leap from Harry Bailey NOT dying as a 9 year old to him being alive to save the men on the transport. But the leap is plausible. Clarence the Angel may not give us the ability to see what the world would look like if we had not lived, but I think that the idea is worth a thought. Rather, let's think about how the world is different because we ARE alive.

How is the world different because you lived? I don't have any answers, just questions. Who believes in himself/herself more because you were around to encourage them? Who did the right thing because you helped them through tough times? Who finished high school or college because you told them that you believed in them. Who never lost a husband/brother/dad because you took the keys from a friend? What child is blessed because you are his/her parent? Who is lucky to have you as a friend? All great questions to make us think about the impact of our lives on an every day basis. Not just the big things we celebrate, but the small ways that we change the lives of the people we touch every day.

Enough questions for tonight. Definitely going for a lighter blog tomorrow. Have a great Sunday and thanks for the many ways that your life has made my life better. I hope that my life has touched yours in some positive way.