4th of July

The 4th of July has always been significant to me, and to my family I think. It's always been a fun day, where you get a paid day off from work with great BBQ, friends, family and fireworks. However, at a very young age, my brothers and I saw a different side of what this holiday really means.
My dad has worked as in Civil Service with the military his entire career. This has given us many opportunities to live around the world and around the United States. This also means we have lived with active duty military and their families. So, when I say we have seen a different side of what this holiday means, we have. We were in England when the second Gulf War started, and we had many many friends who's Moms or Dads were deployed...sometimes for a year or more at a time. We had friends that changed high schools three or four times because their parents were given orders for a different station.
We have seen what the price of freedom really costs, and the great sacrifices that are made by those willing to serve our country and by their families. Luckily, we never really experienced this first hand--since my dad was never ordered to go anywhere or deployed to dangerous parts of the world. But, we did see what strong wonderful people we have to protect our country and our freedom.
We do have heros in our own family who have served our country however. My Grandfather served in WWII, My Dad served in Vietnam, My brother Troy is currently serving in the National Guard and will have to leave his young family for a year starting this fall.
To all you Men and Women who have served or are serving and to your families THANK YOU! Thank you for your diligence, your dedication, your sacrifices and for putting your lives on the line (literally) to preserve our freedom.

I hope the 4th of July will be a fun time for all this year, but also a time to really think about how grateful we should be for the liberties we have in this country.
"Freedom is never free" --author unknown