A Season of Thanks

A man and his wife are at Denny's eating breakfast. He's in his uniform. Not sure what branch of the military but does it matter? Their meal is interrupted by two women who stop by their table and thank them for their service to our country. They both have tears in their eyes and leave the restaurant. The couple finds out their meal has already been paid for and they think back to the two women. An emotional and inspirational story that could easily have been written for a feel good, warm and cozy television show. But this was real life. The two women were my mom and sister. And the gesture was from the heart. They never got the name of the military man or his wife. They didn't introduce themselves. They simply said thank you.

The memory hit me like a ton of bricks as my daughter and I volunteered at the local food bank yesterday. We were completing service hours for my daughter's service learning class at school but the thank you that came from our supervisor was an eye opener. He relied on the food bank when he was growing up. Now he worked there. But the amount of work that has to be done every day, every week, every year, could not be accomplished by the few paid workers. It takes volunteers. Some show up because they have to, some volunteer with their church/school/family/community group, some do it out of the goodness of their heart. Our supervisor, the former food bank recipient, said thank you. Plain and simple.

So now I get to say thank you to all of you. Thank you for everything you do. Whether you are in the military, helping with those in need, or simply praying for those who are hurting. Thank you.