“Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.”

I’ve tried to stay away from social media the last few days. I knew after our soon to be president was announced that things were going to be a bit messy. I think most Americans did. I just wish for once that people would prove us wrong and show the world that we do know how to be peaceful. Wishful thinking I guess?

A friend of mine wrote something yesterday that I was unaware of and I’d like to touch on that before I get to the main topic. Apparently, democrats are highly  upset that some 4 million people voted for the liberal party. They are saying that if we would have voted for Hilary then Trump wouldn’t have been elected president. I wanted to give a little insight on this.

Hilary won the popular vote. That means, in case you don’t know, that more people voted for Hilary. Trump won more electoral votes. The 3% of voters that went with their gut and voted liberal would not have made much of a difference if any at all. On the other hand, it is our right as an American to vote for whoever we want to vote for and that includes writing in Mickey Mouse if we feel the need to do so. There shouldn’t be people blaming us 3% or shaming us for doing what we felt was right. If you want to be mad, be mad that most Americans voted for the “lesser evil” instead of following their heart.

Riots are not helping anything. Destroying your neighborhood, or other peoples property is not going to solve anything. I am completely for protest. By protest I mean the way Martin Luther King Jr protested, or how Anonymous protested just a few days ago. I mean peaceful protest. It seems that people don’t think those make a statement anymore but I promise you, they do. You may not see the outcome you want right away but it doesn’t go unnoticed.

So enough with that! Today is Veterans day! Today is the day that we honor the brave men and women who were willing to give up their life for us. I am truly grateful to each and every one of them! But there is one special person that I think about the most today and that’s my father. He joined the Army back in 1969 and served 4 years. He fought in the Vietnam war and it changed his life forever. There were things that he didn’t talk about. After researching more about that war, I can’t say I blame him. The things he did tell me were already so hard to hear and if that’s not the worst of it then I can’t imagine what was.

The one thing I could never get over is when he got back to the U.S not one person was there waiting for him. I know that a lot of people were against the war but the soldiers were just doing their job and did not deserve that kind of treatment. He did not deserve that treatment. My dads side of the family is full of veterans. I actually wrote a paper on my great uncle in 5th grade that won an award. He served in World War II and toward the end he was captured by the Germans. My dad helped a lot with that paper. Since I never met my great uncle, I had to write part of his life based off of what my dad told me. He’s one person I would have loved to know and learn from.

My dad passed away 3 years ago after fighting a long battle with cancer. My dad was a fighter his whole life and continued to be one even after he got that horrible news. The docs gave him 6 months, he lived 3 years longer than that. He always enjoyed proving people wrong and the time limit on his life was no exception. My father was a hero and not just because he served our country. He was my hero because of how much he loved and cared. He had a really hard time showing it and I completely understand why. But when he did show it, he made sure you felt like the most cherished person in the entire world. He was my supporter, the one person that I could always count on, he was honest and brave. He never ended a conversation with me without telling me that I’ll always be his little girl and I made sure that he knew he was my rock.

I want to thank every brave person who decided to put their life on hold to protect ours. You are all amazing and valued! Thank you for your service!

via Daily Prompt: Or