As I write this, I’m thinking about what I’m going to say at the Veteran’s Day event at the Centennial Hall in Fargo. I talked with Mayor Voxland last week, he talked about how he made the mistake of talking about his dad, which got him all choked up. I don’t have that experience. My father talked about going to Korea, but that my mom was pregnant with me, and they didn’t want family men at the time.

When I think of service men and women, I do think of people that mean a lot to me. I think we all do. I think of Paul, my 88 year old neighbor, who my kids called “Magic Paul”. Paul would have been in the front line if they hadn’t dropped a bomb in Japan. I think of my friends, Larry, David, Les, Duke, and the experiences they talk about. I also think of my friend, Johanna, who was a POW, who talks about it in bits and pieces with me and who suffers from PTSD. I think of a homeless man, who cried when I thanked him for his service. We all have people in our lives that make Veterans Day so very important. I appreciate that we have a day that highlights our Veterans, but frankly we should have that every day. Thank you to all the Veterans in our community. Thank you to the families that shared your family members with our country. Thank you, not only on Veteran’s Day, but every day.