Sacrifice

The brave acts and incredible courage of soldiers has never been enough to win wars and secure freedom.

It has always taken many great sacrifices by other people as well.

This picture captures one of those “happy days” of my parents at the end of WWII. Arriving home from war, my future dad rushed to find his sweetheart and proposed to her, right there in the hospital parking lot, still wearing her surgical cap!

Their combined courage and sacrifice, along with that of so many others, had secured their freedom and they could now move forward with their lives.

Mom loved her career as a nurse and was good at it. I remember her telling me about the world at war when she graduated from high school and the desperate need for nurses, so she chose the study of nursing over her love of literature.

From our vantage point today, it is easy to forget that victory was not assured. No one could foretell the outcome for nations, families, or individuals. Young lives were put on hold, others were lost entirely. There was a seismic shift in the normal expectations for the big and little moments of life. Girls took their dad to prom, all the boys were gone. Ration cards and doing with less became a way of life.

I was blessed to witness my mom’s capable hands, trained in crisis, go on to nurse my siblings and me and so many others. She continued to sacrifice and pay it forward, volunteering countless hours giving aid to people at large conferences held by our church community, to the Red Cross efforts to rescue a town flooded when the earthen dam above them broke, to a young girl hospitalized miles away from her family, to impoverished mothers in the Altiplano of Bolivia… the list goes on.

Right now we are daily witnessing the brave actions of people near and far stepping forward to aid those in harm’s way in Ukraine. As we talk with our children about the horrific scenes being played out in real time, we can help them understand it has always taken courage and sacrifice, not just from soldiers, but from all of us, to preserve freedom and safety.

Here’s to Failing Forward Together,

Anne


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