the sting of a grateful american

hi.

i had the most amazing opportunity this morning, and i have to share it.

i live in hurst, which is a suburb of fort worth. i live 15 minutes from d/fw international airport. there are flights arriving daily from kuwait city - they're called r&r flights - of soldiers coming home from the war. i went today to support, to cheer, and to thank these wonderful men and women for fighting in this war, and every war that came before. i will never ever forget the looks of these awesome heroes walking off of that airplane, hugging us, shaking our hands, accepting our thanks. they deserve so very much more than that. i even saw lots of tears (some of which were my own).

i was so proud to be standing amongst such fine americans. i heard lots of 'welcome home, soldier', 'thank you for your hard work, ma'am', 'god bless you', 'good job', and several 'let me help you with that heavy load you've got there's. i've said this before, and i'll say it again. i implore you to shake the hand of someone - anyone - that you see in a uniform, whether it be civil service or military, and thank them for all that they do. i know this may not be a war that everyone agrees with, but those men and women deserve our support and thanks just the same.

greeting these flights will now be something that i do often. if you live around here, or you are ever in the area, give me a shout and i'll tell you how to get the incoming flight information - they do come in every day. i'm looking forward to independence day...that's where i'll be.

the palms of my hands still sting from all of the clapping - and i am grateful.