heroes among us

In honor of Veterans Day this past week, I thought I would share something a little more personal.
My family has been involved in the United States Military for many generations. 
Because so, I have much respect for the Military and for all of the men and women serving our country. Through all these men and women, one of my greatest heroes is my great-grandpa, Theo Nelson. 
I am very blessed to have been so close to him while he was on this earth. For some reason he has been on my mind a lot recently.
I remember growing up in his house, with the smells of the fireplace, the pictures mounted on the wall, and the clocks ticking, but mostly I remember standing on the tree stump in his back yard listening to the soothing sound of trains passing by. Sometime when I really can't find peace in this world I go back to those days, of simplicity and love, and I try to re-live it as much as possible.  It is one of those sights and feelings that you will never forget, no matter how old you get or how distant your life becomes; from what it used to be.
But its hard, living in such a world where silence can never be found. You can lose yourself in the materialistic and the deceiving notions of what true happiness is. To me; true happiness is wearing my grandpa's cowboy hat, its watching an F-16 fly over an American Flag, it is holding hands with the man I love, it watching a baseball game on a summers night...
And It is standing on a beaten down, rustic old tree stump and just listening. 
There are heroes among us every day and they get over looked by vain and selfish acts. They can be a physical person or in my case they can be a memory. We need to find these heroes and believe in them with all that we have. 

I want to share with you a video that my Uncle Todd Kunz, anchor for eyewitness news in eastern Idaho, showed on his local station, 

WWII Buddies Reunite After 63 years

How can you not love the man in this video? :)
I know that I will see him again some day but until that day arrives I will so desperately hold onto his memory and his legacy because that is where I find happiness.