It's Fun Friday, and I will talk about my fun weekend ahead, but first I have to take the time to wish each and every reader a wonderful, thoughtful, provocative Veteran's Day. Linda Barrett's THE SOLDIER AND THE ROSE and my A RENDEZVOUS TO REMEMBER were both released this month by Harlequin in order to celebrate Veteran's day and the sacrifices made by so many for all of us. Both Linda and I chose World War II themes, and I think you'll find there's so much interest in this time in history once again. Perhaps it's to remind ourselves that freedom has never come easily. Or to remind us that each generation has its sacrifices, whether it's a war, natural disaster, or other tragedy.
Yet through any tragedy hope will triumph. Sometimes it's there right away again, such as when we saw so many people go to New Orleans after Katrina to do what they could to help. Other times it takes longer, such as when we visit a Holocaust Memorial and hope that perhaps by educating our children this kind of atrocity will not happen again. Sometimes we have to dig for the hope, like after viewing the scenes in Darfur and only getting the tiniest bit of hope when we see the world at least become aware of the genocide. It's not always enough, but we are human, so we look for the hope. It's in our nature.
This weekend and next week I'm celebrating in style the release of my first book. I'm having a brunch in my home, and spending time with special people who have been with me on this journey. They are my sisters- and brothers-in-arms. At times life can seem like a war, and we all feel like a veteran. But I'm all to aware that I wouldn't be enjoying this wonderful time in my life if not for the veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice to ensure the continuation of freedom and democracy. How blessed, how fortunate am I.
As are all of us.
Do you have a special veteran you'd like to thank this Veteran's Day?
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2 comments:
We should be observing this holiday now more than ever. This weekend is the time to be thinking about issues confronting our troops and their families. A good way to get involved is to check out the the Wounded Warrior Project. It's a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness for U.S. troops severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan. It really puts a face on the cost of this conflict. Here's a link:
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/aarwebshow
Jeff
Geri,
I have your book and Linda's. Just waiting for a lag in my busy schedule so I can sit down and read and enjoy both. In WWII we had troop trains that stopped in my hometown---I'm not sure why they stopped, but my mom baked cookies and took cookies and hot coffee to the troops on the cars heading out. I used to go with her. I wasn't very old, but I remember the blackouts and the rationing and a few other things. My father trained welders and the young men used to write to my mom. Some were sad letters.
Today our advances in medicine are allowing us to save more of our warriors, but I hope we just continue to take good care of them once they get home.
We're flying our flag high this holiday weekend.
Roz
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