A veteran is still a veteran, by any other name, just like a ROSE!
“A veteran is still a veteran, by any other name, just like a ROSE!” I wrote that almost three decades ago when I first started developing and building the organization. I wanted to plant my feet firmly in a mission where every vet was treated equal.
The soldiers that shared a fox hole together didn’t care who had their back or what affiliation of faith, race, gender, or political view they had. We need each other! Especially in this nation, the United States of America! Has a nice ring…UNITED!
The Pandemic nearly brought us to our knees! We needed each other, for we are all in the same foxhole. The enemy being COVID! Still, with that invisible enemy, we worked together and stayed together to fight this PANDEMIC. Sure, we had glitches in our society, racial, political, civil unrest and disobedience. But everyone can agree that 2020 was a “hell of a year”!
Dwelling on the negatives is counterproductive to our mental and physical health. It is necessary that we ponder the positives, which I choose to do! Now, before I move on; please keep in your prayers, those folks and families that have lost loved ones, their businesses, jobs, and over all the pain that they have endured.
Oddly, some good came out of this nightmare. My family has had some good tidings. My wife and I sold a couple problem properties that we owned. Plus, the Pandemic changed the way many of us work – it is now from home. Due to those changes, two of our three children and their families have moved to the north from the south. They were nine to eleven hours away from home. Our one son, The Army Captain and his wife, bought a house twenty-five minutes south of us with his two children and one on the way! The other is our only daughter, her husband and two sons purchased a ranch, 40 minutes north of us.
The charity has survived the Pandemic so far, even though we lost half of our income and half of our employees and volunteers. We had to cancel thirty-eight out of forty events. But, we are still performing our mission of helping a great deal of veterans in need.
So, no matter how hard we have to look, there is some good in all bad!
For Instance:
∙ As economies have ground to a halt, so has fossil fuel usage. Carbon emissions are set to decrease by 8% in 2020 as the corona-virus pandemic causes the biggest shock to the global energy system in over 70 years, according to the International Energy Agency.
∙ The speed and advancement of medicine is unprecedented. Opening the doors to cures of other communicable diseases or debilitating conditions.
∙ Supermarket cashiers, shelf-stackers and delivery drivers are not generally thought of as heroes. But the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the essential roles played by key workers who we all depend on.
∙ The economy is robust, which is a miracle, with the millions of people out of work, the millions of businesses gone, and the pandemic funds going out, but the economy is still rolling out!
∙ Community spirit, despite the fact that most people are shut away in their homes, many communities have never been closer.
There are many other positives that are out there. We have to hold tight on that and we all will get through this with each other. The vaccinations are being distributed, by three or more pharmaceuticals now.
This time last year, I wrote in my emails and memos my personal reflections on what was in store for us in 2020! I proclaimed that that was the year our nation was going to become more FOCUSED! Yea…that sounds about right…We had to do a whole lot of focusing, didn’t we?
But now with 2021, I am hopeful that this monster will be put asunder! Remember, we are all in that fox hole together. Please, reflect on our veterans and their ongoing needs and help, because of their time in a very different fox hole. We must learn from that. “One for All, and All for One!”
Lastly, please consider donating to our mission, you can help an impacted Veteran with a sponsorship pledge of $25 a month! God Bless the USA! Donate anything that you can through veteransoutreach.org