Christmas Letter to my Fellow Veterans
She kept raving about their variety and beauty. She brought me to seem these unusual flowers. Her female capacity to see beauty, as here, stuns me. And seeing the beauty of these flowers led me to write this Christmas letter to my fellow American Veterans.
Flowers can heal. I know this because my wife has taught me this over 38 years of marriage. She brought me to this nursery to show me the beauty of the poinsettias. I was not keen to go as I thought all poinsettias were the same: red flowers and green leaves. Boring. Was I ever wrong.
Look at these flowers. Like humans, they are every color, size, weight and variety under the sun. And a human cared enough to cultivate these plants, God's gift to us on this earth, to achieve this beauty.I did not know that until I was open to my wife's suggestion that we go look at them.
Lessons from Viewing these Poinsettias
1. My wife loves me and has my best interest at heart and I must ALWAYS listen to her as she only wants the best for me and to make me better.
2. God's beauty, as in these flowers, is all around us for our pleasure and to heal us.
3. Trust those who love you to open your eyes to God's love through their love.
These are all vital healing lessons.
I know the Christmas season can be rough on all Veterans, even rougher than Veteran's Day or Memorial Day.
My plea in this letter is that you open your eyes to those who love you and want you around. I am tired of buying Vets who die from self inflicted wounds, be it alcohol, fentanyl, crack, heroin, or obesity.
Continue your Tradition of Service
The skills you learned when you were in the service are needed by your family, neighbors, co-workers, bosses, underlings, and your fellow Americans.
Yes, your service when you were in the service was critical, but the service you render the remainder of your time on earth is even more important.
You were just a kid when you were in the service.Once you leave, having acquired vital skills, you must apply those skills to help your family and others.
For example, when I served in the USAF, I did extra duty in emergency management exercises helping to get patients out of the massive hospital at Eglin AFB once a month for hurricane drills.This led to a post service job as vice president of an innovative emergency management company inspecting emergency management centers, teaching at the Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, MD, and writing article for their publication Hazmat Monthly.
That let to me getting involved in emergency management exercises. and creating this civil defense blog to educate my fellow Americans about how to prepare for and overcome natural and manmade disasters for their families.
Eventually, my civil defense blog came to the attention of The American Civil Defense Association and they invited me to join their Board of Directors.
(TACDA has been educating American families about civil defense since 1962.)
I have been writing articles for their Journal of Civil Defense for 16 years, suggesting products such as WaterBricks for the Survival Store, and providing leadership, strategy, and guidance.With my own money, I have bought thousands of business cards with TACDA's website on it and given it out to thousands over the years to spread the good word.
To honor my MIA Uncle Frank J. Curley, on the back of the card I have a photo of him and his B-24 Braesher Crew that was shot down off HaHa Jima on February 10, 1945.In my experience giving this card to people, 99.9% are happy to get it as everyone wants to be prepared for disasters, and to prepare their families.
Forty years ago when I left the USAF, I could not have imagined I would one day be the volunteer vice president of a civil defense charity, but I am. The skills and knowledge I gained in the USAF from an additional duty no less, gave me the ability to keep defending, protecting, and yes, loving, my fellow Americans, and especially American Vets.
The Mystery of Beauty to Relieve Stress
What does this have to do with the beauty of poinsettias?
When I walked into the nursery, I had a mystical, spiritual revelation about the beauty of these flowers and the beauty of my wife's love bring me there.I realized I never would have survived the past 40 years without the love of my wife and her patience educating me about the beauty of flowers.
I do cyber work. It is hard, and frankly, scary at times knowing the cyber threats this nation faces.I do an outstanding job according to the C-Suite at my employer, but it is hard.
Normally, I write user manuals, quick start guides, checklists, blog content, and other documents typical of my role as a senior technical writer.
But, lately, I have been writing our Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan. It is hard work as I have to keep many spinning plates in the air while writing the 12 documents that feed into the master plan and they all must relate to each other in that bigger plan.
Sometimes I get too far into it, live in my head, and disconnect from the outside world. And that is where my wife and her ability to make me see the beauty of flowers comes in.By taking a break and seeing the beauty of these flowers, and the wonder of the hand-made crafts this nursery also offers, I recover, refresh, and live to fight another day.
I encourage you to do the same.
Enjoy Christmas
Christ came to save us all. Advent is here and we prepare to celebrate His birth.
Keep Christ in your Christmas. Shop, decorate, and give gifts, yes, but mindful that it is Christ's birth and willingness to sacrifice his life for us that creates this beautiful season. Most importantly, take care of your health, mental, physical, and spiritual.
I am tired of early burials of Vets who had so much to give to their families and themselves and this nation still but are no longer with us due to poor decisions. To avoid going early, one tactic you can use to keep yourself young, spry, and intellectually challenged is to do volunteer work. Maybe join me at TACDA. By helping others, you help yourself. It has done wonders for my life. And really look at the flowers.Merry Christmas 2022 to all American Veterans!
God love you and protect you and your families!
