Family of Veterans

 

My bloodline wears uniforms in every shade of courage.

Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines.

My relatives have served in every branch like roots sprouting deep into United States soil.

From my mom and her father to my dad and his father, and a multitude of cousins.

Valor runs deep.

Stitched into our stories.

Whispered through folded flags and tear stained goodbyes.

I'd be damned if I stayed silent this Veteran's Day.

Their names deserve thunder.

Their faces deserve light.

They sacrificed family time.

Missed first steps and family reunions.

Chased freedom on foreign soil.

While holding on to the sound of home.

Deployment after deployment.

They stood tall.

Proud and black.

Men and women carving out a place.

In a country that often forgot to salute them back.

Still, they marched.

Still, they rose.

Still, they believed.

That service could shape a new kind of freedom.

One where their children and their children's children.

Could finally stand tall too.