Thank you

My dear brother -

That it’s taken me this long to write this letter is a sin. That I’ve waited until such an obvious date to write it only adds insult to injury. But, in the end this is not about me. It’s about you.

I never said thank you.

Your picture hangs on our wall in the living room. There are two that stand out to me whenever I glance at that wall. There is one of you and dad at the airport waiting for the flight back to California and the other is of you in your uniform taken, as I recall, during basic training in San Diego.

You enlisted when our family was distraught over an impending divorce. There were kids involved – one wasn’t even born yet – and then all the horrible thoughts that go through your mind when contemplating divorce. Naturally, it would have been easy for you to stay and offer whatever help you might have provided but you chose, instead, the more difficult course and honored your word – at some sacrifice, I would guess, to your own peace of mind as to how things would turn out in your absence.

My son was born two years later. I think you were in Okinawa during all the anticipation and planning for his arrival. I missed you terribly. I was never resentful; but I don’t think selfishness on my part was ever completely out of the question. It seemed logical and I understood, but I never truly considered the tremendous sacrifice on your part in accepting your duty.

The 1990s seemed very safe to me. Bosnia always bothered me, and there were the photos from Mogadishu that were alarming, but the U.S. economy was booming, Republicans controlled the legislature and all seemed right in the world.

And then came 2001. The call at 6:45 a.m. The hours in front of the TV wondering what else would happen. The calls back east. The disbelief.

I remember the fear and the reality that our world had changed forever. Mostly, though, I remember the hope I found in our armed services. That despite such a horrific event, I still felt safe on the road and at home at and in the grocery store. And I realized that it was only because of our military that I felt safe at all. I didn’t have to worry about suicide bombers on buses or running into downtown restaurants.

Every year at the capitol, the CSU brass band stands in the gallery, which encircles three-fourths of the House chamber two stories above where I stand, and they play our national anthem, “America the Beautiful,” and “God Bless America.” I simply weep.

It is not only because I love this country so much and can scarcely believe that I have the honor of serving its citizens, it is because I am so very proud that I have a brother who sacrificed so much to allow me the privilege of standing in that room where laws are made.

It is because of you and those who served with you and those who continue to serve that our country peacefully transfers power every four years to a new national leader. I was struck by this on Election Night last year, that despite my skepticism of our new president, we live in an amazing country and at a terrible price. And it is because of men and women like you who have been willing to pay that price, that the U.S. remains the incredible country that it is.

And so, despite how sinfully late this letter is in coming, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you on this Memorial Day 2009 for your sacrifice, for your sense of duty, and for your patience with your fellow Americans who remain dreadfully ignorant to the evils that surround us from which you so selflessly protected us.

Thank you for temporarily putting your life on hold for five years so that our lives could go on without interruption.

Thank you for eating endless MREs so that we could eat whatever we want whenever we want.

Thank you for training in the merciless sun, for running and carrying a ridiculously heavy pack on your back, for ignoring the pain, so that I could figure out what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Thank you for your willingness to give up family gatherings and events, to protect us from those who would if they could take those moments from us forever.

I am so proud of you and love you so much. I will never forget.

Your brother –