I always look forward to lunch meetings at DMU. Yesterday, we celebrated veterans’ day over lunch and to my surprise, there were many students dressed in their respective uniforms representing their service in the military.
I am amazed at how many students there were on active duty or in the reserves. I don’t think there are any words to express my sincere gratitude for all of the veterans’ sacrifices.
I wanted to share a few things that the veterans said to us at the meeting:
“In other countries, so many die from fighting for what we already have.”
“Serving in the military can be the best of experiences, or the worst. You get out of it what you put into it.” (That’s is much like medical school!)
“You attitude has everything to do with your experiences.”
“When you think you’ve reached your limit, you’ll learn that you can go further.”
At one point, my eyes were welting from a response a student gave when asked by an audience member “what is a family to do when a loved one comes home and doesn’t want to talk about anything related to his/her departure?” In so few words, his voice trembled as he responded, “give them their space and time.” And I will remember just that.