Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Today I'm feeling a little sad. It is the first Veteran's Day without my dad. We always went to the Veterans Day ceremony at the park in Carmel and paid our respects to the American Flag and our Veterans. Today, I went by myself. Daddy passed away earlier this year, I still can't believe it.

My son Riley was there though. In full Air Force Uniform. He looked so handsome!! I am very proud of him and the way he stands up for what he believes is right.

Yesterday, Car Show for the Vets held it's 7th Car Show for the veterans at Menlo Park VA hospital. As usual it was AweSome!!....but even more so this year. We had 70 cars representing 12 car clubs from the greater San Francisco Bay area. The entry fee is to bring something to give to a veteran....sweatpants, socks, etc. They LOVE it!! We made our ward visits and handed out raffle tickets and goodie bags to those vets who were unable to come out to see the cars. We laughed and we cried with them. It's a tough day.....but worth every minute!!

Seven years ago when we started this show, I had no idea that people didn't 'know' about the vets. I knew, I had worked as their nurse for 30 years. It just never dawned on me people had no idea how special they are. Every year at this car show I am amazed again how peoples eyes are opened to the greatness of our veterans. Each and every one of the participants comes away with a new outlook and respect for our veterans.
That's what it's all about....respect and saying 'THANK YOU!'