234th Birthday and Veteran's Day

Yesterday the Marine Corps celebrated their 234th birthday. So a belated Happy Birthday to two of the greatest men I know. My grandfater, a Sgt Major (at age 19!) from WWII who served in the Philippines. He is the youngest Sgt Major in the Corps history and served proudly for many years. My Poppy has now been married to my Babci for 62 years and has six kids and fifteen grandkids. He still dons his dress blues, attends parades, schools, does Toys for Tots, and is an active member of his local VFW. My original and truest hero and the best grandfather ever. This was taken at the Marine Corps Birthday Ball in 2007 when we went together. He took my cousin Jill and I to the local ball in NJ with him as his dates. I came home from college especially for that weekend and I was so proud of my grandfather. As the oldest Marine present, 85 at the time, he was a part of the cake cutting ceremony. He is now 87 and I believe he is still the oldest Marine at the ball he attends!

My other hero of course is MY Marine. A LCpL who is still serving and just returned from his first deployment in Iraq. Nearly 60 years apart in their service these two men are still my heroes and I cannot thank God enough for sending them to me. They have protected and served our country and have sacraficed more than I can ever imagine. Ryan leaving was one of the hardest experiences of my life. I know it was no picnic for him either, but I never imagined such pain, worry, and terror as when I did when I knew where he was going. If he ended up in Afghanistan (which is a strong possibility for next time....) I knew it would be so much worse. But for now I am grateful we made it through the first one and we're still going strong. Ryan hasn't had his chance to start a huge family or live the non active duty lifestyle yet, but I know someday he will. Today we were texting while I was at work and I thanked Ryan, and teased him a bit about being in bed waaaaay past noon. But he said it was a day he could get away with it so I agreed. He then said, "They should have a girlfriend/fiancee/wives of Veteran's Day." I had to laugh a little at that and asked him why? He did everything that needed the honoring, and he replied "I couldn'tt be what I am if it wasn't for you in my life. So I am declaring tomorrow wife/fiance/girlfriend of a veteran's day! You deserve it too. We couldn't do it without you." It got me teary, not going to lie. I wish I could have the day off, free food, and of course spend it with my veteran, but the thought is nice!!!

It was a pure coincidence that the love of my life would be a Marine. I didn't go out searching for one just because of my Poppy. It was a total coincidence but one of the best of my life. I love my Marines, and I wish them a Happy Belated Birthday and say thank you for this Veteran's Day.

I love you both!