Blessings We Take for Granted

by Jacqueline Hale

In the United States, November is the month in which we celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a time for us to pause for a moment and give thanks for all of the wonderful blessings we have in our lives. Yet, this year, it’s difficult to feel thankful when there is such tragedy in the Middle East. The horrific act of terrorism against the US Navy, and the death and destruction occurring between Palestinians and Israelis does not necessarily make for a joyous or thankful time at all. The hope brought about by peace talks in the summer seems to have shattered in the fall. And it looks as though it may be a very cold winter.

One of the women killed in Yemen is from the city where I live. I have watched the news accounts night after night of her family’s pain and suffering. It has put a very human face on the sometimes sterile reports of casualties and losses. She left behind a toddler; now there is just one more child in the world without a mother.

Seeing her family; seeing her pictures, being given a glimpse of the life she lived, I began to realize just how much I have to be thankful for.

I am thankful for her and the other men and women who gave their lives in Yemen to insure peace for my family and me. I am thankful for their families who made the ultimate sacrifice by giving of their fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters for the promise of peace. I am thankful for all the men and women who came before them and fought and died for freedom. Freedom, it seems, comes at a high price.

Anything worth having does. That price can be time, money, emotional or physical commitment but whatever the price it seems the best rewards in life aren’t free. Too often we forget that. We become consumed with our own struggles and wonder why “life” isn’t easier.

Maybe life was never supposed to be “easy.” Or maybe it’s all a matter of perspective.

My son is growing up in an area where bombs do not explode and gunfire doesn’t fill the streets, unlike the children of Northern Ireland or the Gaza Strip. He’s got plenty of heat in the winter and food in his stomach, unlike millions of children throughout the world. He’s got two parents who love him, unlike the infant child who just lost her mother to a terrorist attack she will never understand.

On November 7th I will vote in my country’s presidential election, unlike millions whose voices are not allowed to be heard. I have choices to do anything or be anything I want, unlike countless women worldwide. My family has access to limitless education, unlike hundreds of thousands who do not.

We have infinite possibilities bound only by our imaginations and willingness to try and to work. And we have all that we have because of the courageous men and women who came before us and sacrificed to pave the way.

Maybe it’s not a coincidence that November brings Election Day, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day all in a row. First we have the privilege of voting. Then on Veterans Day we can remember and pay respects to all the individuals who fought and died for that right. Finally we can give thanks for all of it, for our freedoms, for our forefathers, and for all of our choices and opportunities. These are blessings we take for granted while others give up their lives to obtain or to protect. Just ask the men and women of the USS Cole.