Today is Memorial Day.

Thank you to all the men and women who have served and currently serve in our military. We really should say thank you all the the time, not just the few times a year that the calendar reminds us to say thank you.

I think of the sacrifices soldiers like my Dad made. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school and spent a tour in Vietnam flying Hueys like the one in this photo.

After he came back, he eventually joined the National Guard where he flew through 2001. His unit was called up during the First Gulf War and spent several weeks at Ft. Riley before shipping to Saudi Arabia. I was sixteen at the time and in my first year of college. I vividly remember working at the NBC affiliate the night that Iraq started throwing SCUDS at Israel and thinking my Dad’s in the middle of that fight. I remember joking about Dad’s all-expense paid, government vacation to the great kitty-liter box. It was that or cry. And that wasn’t an option, not with three siblings watching.

My Dad is an amazing guy. He’s served in two wars and flew for many years in the Army and National Guard. But my Mom is an amazing woman. Without her support, he couldn’t have done that. They eloped on Dad’s way to Vietnam, so she’s lived all of that with him. And I’ll never forget watching her strength as she kept the businesses running, continued to homeschool three children, and did so much while Dad was in the Gulf.

So today, thank the military. But also thank their families. Without the families, it would be difficult or impossible for our soldiers to do what they do for our country.