On Veteran's Day, We Remember.

It's Veteran's Day. A day when we memorialize those who have served our country and honor those who serve it now. This year marks the 20th my own husband has served our country. Our family has seen multiple deployments, months of separation. We've had two wars during these 20 years. Even with all of the chaos swirling around us, we still live life day to day doing all the things non-military families do.

We bridge both worlds in many ways. Nothing reminded me more of this dual citizenship than the time my father-in-law came for his first visit.

It was not long after our family arrived in the Washington DC area that my husband was promoted to a higher rank. My father in law came out to attend the promotion ceremony. The kids were excited to have Grandpa visit and show them our new house. Grandpa was excited to see the kids again.

On one of the days of their visit, we all went down to the Mall to see the various memorials. The weather was beautiful for October, it was warm and felt more like a mid-summer day than mid-fall. We made our way through the World War II Memorial.

My father in law was talkative, joking with the kids. Talking to them about the various flags flying and asking the kids name the many states we'd all lived in or visited. We made our way down the Mall, stopping to buy incredibly overpriced ice cream and sitting on a bench to watch people for a little bit.

We walked over to the Korean War Memorial. Close to this memorial was a kiosk where a person can go in and look up the name of a Veteran and get a printout of where they served, when they were killed or injured etc. My father-in- law went in and came out holding a sheet of paper. We walked over to the Korean War Memorial. My father-in-law paused in front of the granite wall and quietly cried as he clutched the paper in his hand. You see, his brother died in the Korean War. They both served, but only one of them came home. For my father-in-law who was unable to attend his brother's funeral, this was a memorial service. Standing before this wall, holding confirmation of his brother's death served as his farewell to his brother. It had been a long time coming.

No one in our family had been prepared for this reaction from my father-in-law. He was the happy go lucky sort. I'd never seen him cry, I think I'd seen him frown twice. But now tears were streaming down his cheeks as he faced the undeniable reality of his brother's death and as we bore witness we could see my father-in-law was letting go of the weight of the unexpressed grief he had shouldered for so many years. His brother, gone but not forgotten, and now remembered once more for the man he was and why he died.

Our children had many questions about Grandpa crying. Our older son asked if it would be okay for him to hug Grandpa. I told him, "Of course, go hug." And he hugged his Grandpa. It was an emotional sight; the two of them embracing in front of the imobile statues of infantry men with heavy packs upon their backs.

The rest of the afternoon Grandpa opened up about his memories of serving in the Army and his fallen brother. It appeared as if a door had been shut for my father-in-law and now it swung wide open and he was able to talk about his experiences when before he had merely brushed off any questions with "That was a long time ago. I can't remember." But something incredible happened on that day we visited the memorial. My father-in-law spoke of his Army memories.

As we walked around the rest of the Mall, my father-in-law told War Stories and they were fascinating , especially the one where he drove Elvis around Germany in a Jeep!

What I recall most about that day on the National Mall is how watching my father-in-law and my husband sharing their stories of service with our children brought forth my own realization of the bridge connecting the past to the future, built out of remembrance and hope.

So on this Veteran's Day, go hug a Veteran... Or the parent of a Veteran, a sibling of a Veteran, a child of a Veteran. And if hugging isn't your thing, a simple "Thank you!" or knowing smile works just great.