This holiday season is the perfect time to support a vet by allowing them to share their memories and experiences. Mine happened in the most unlikely time when I was intuitively led to help a family member clean out his home.
One of the most memorable experiences of my life happened when I volunteered to help my uncle clean out the apartment he had been in for over 50 years. The dirt, dust, and old broken televisions and furniture had been cleaned out over a number of torturous months and one rainy Saturday I opened up a closet door which changed everything.
Somehow in the midst of all the clutter my uncle’s old army uniform had been preserved in a suit bag in a hallway closet. When I pulled it out it took me a moment to process what I had in my hands — a family treasure. I called my Uncle Jones in and when he saw the uniform I was treated to one of his rare smiles. The man who had worn this soldier’s garment was now hidden in a frail body standing on a cane. Suddenly my intuition took over and I asked, “Do you want to try it on?” He shrugged slightly at first as if it did not matter, but I sensed that my uncle did want to put on the jacket. Placing his cane first against the wall, I decided to just help him into the uniform. I wish you could have been there for the moment…it was so precious. One of my deepest regrets is that I did not think to get my cell phone and record this very special moment. As my uncle settled into having his uniform on again, I watched my father’s brother stand straighter as he looked at himself in the mirror. Uncle Jones even saluted himself. This rare moment would have never happened if I had not followed my intuition. My uncle passed away six months after that fateful day we would his old army uniform. The uniform has now been preserved and we take it out on holidays and show pictures of him.
This was excerpted from my book Intuition: The Hidden Asset Everyone Should Learn to Use. http://amzn.to/20Qm7GF
It is never too late to help veterans share their memories. The men and women who gave so much to insure the world we live in deserve us giving the greatest acts of kindness that we can offer to them…time. When we give the gift of time this brings a change in people that carries on for hours, days & months. The history we discover from spending times with vets need to be shared with our families and communities. We should not have to look in history books to find heroes. They are all around us we just need to pay attention and offer vets the opportunity to share their wisdom and knowledge.