Happy Veterans Day gentleman! Whether you’re a vet or not, today is an important day!
My girlfriend’s father and mine both served in the Army during Vietnam. Her father (Rich) was unfortunately exposed to agent orange and came home to fight a second war with cancer. He beat that and went on to start a family. The first was a girl that turned out happy and healthy. Then along came a son but unfortunately he didn’t see his tenth birthday and lost his battle with the same cancer his father had. Rich was devastated and blamed himself because of what he was exposed to.
Years later Rich had remarried and was told that he couldn’t father any more children. Well the doctors were wrong! Rich got another chance at bringing life into this world. That’s where my girlfriend showed up.
Brittany came into this world with many complications. The doctors and the research she has done all link her conditions to agent orange. She was born with an extremely rare disease that went misdiagnosed until age five. She had countless surgeries as an infant and was given a life expectancy similar to her brother’s before her. She was taken to UCLA at age five and got her diagnosis. She lives with a very debilitating rare disease that does not allow her to lead a “normal” life. She’s exceeded the doctors guesses by almost 30 years now, and leads a very productive life!
Every year since she was a little girl she made her father a special dinner every Veterans Day. He would bring home flowers for her and they would have the dinner that she made special for him. We lost Rich three years ago next month. She did not take a year off though, instead she now has my father over for that special dinner to show her respect and gratitude for their service.
I’m heading out grocery shopping for her right now to make sure she has everything she needs for dinner tonight. If you made it this far, thanks for reading guys and gals. Hug a veteran today!
