Perspective

for as much as i bitch about columbia, i have to say that i am fairly impressed with the amount of appreciation and regard given to the "central missouri honor flight" organization and those world war II veterans that this institution pays its highest gratitude and respect to. central missouri honor flight is a "non-profit organization created solely to honor america's veterans for all their sacrafices. the group transports [america's] heroes to washington d.c., to visit the memorials dedicated to honor their sacrafices," (central missouri honor flight). for further information regarding this organization, please visit www.centralmissourihonorflight.com.

while i feel as if i was somewhat educated about this non-profit organization, there is something to be said about seeing the operation in full force. upon every "honor flight" return from d.c., (the turn around time from departure to return is virtually twenty-four hours), a crowd gathers at the courtyard marriott to welcome the veterans, and it is without question an extraordinary and beautiful (as well as organized), spectacle. as the buses transporting the veterans approach columbia, a group of bikers known as the "freedom riders" patiently await to pave the way back to the marriott. i had heard of the freedom riders and the crowds that congregate to pay tribute to these veterans who have been easily forgotten (as their war was long before my generation), but to stand there and witness the scene was quite unbelievable. words cannot describe the emotion and so i urge all of you who have not had the opportunity to witness this welcome home, to take one night out of your busy lives to say thank you by just showing up as these veterans return from d.c.

my primary reason for going had nothing to do with welcoming a specific veteran home but instead i was there to see a "guardian" (one of several selfless volunteers who assists in the safe transport of these veterans) return. it was late on a tuesday night and i wasn't overly eager to trudge out in the middle of the night. yeahyeahyeah. it was all of 1030. however i went and as tired as i was, i will never regret having gone. i don't want to sound overly emotional at risk of sounding like a GIRL but there were several times when i had to choke back a tear. actually that may have had something to do with drinking a bottle of wine before driving my ass down there. just kidding. about being emotional. not about drinking a bottle of wine. on that note, there are plenty of columbia police officers and state patrol also assisting in this amazing endeavor, so i'd advise not being a lush before sauntering around a bunch of men with badges and guns. (unless of course, you're an expert lush like me...my goal was to get a bit intoxicated but that didn't happen. however, a horrible headache did result. damn wine!).

but alas...the ADD is kicking in. my point is, if hundreds of bikers can bring themselves to face the chilly temperatures to pay a very well deserved homage to these veterans at some ungodly hour of the evening, and handfuls of others can show their (mostly ugly) faces to welcome home these veterans, than you can too. quite frankly, i think it should be mandatory that everyone go once. i mean for fuck sake, these men risked their lives fighting on foreign soil so that we can have the freedoms that we take for granted, i think in the very least, every single human being (cute, fugly, average, beautiful or hot), man, woman and child, can take their tooshes down to the marriott and say thank you by just being there. you won't regret that you did. i hate to think of the day that everyone who should go, says "next time" and the welcome home crowd is all but none. these veterans aren't afforded the luxury of saying "next time" so don't think about it and just do it. we all need perspective in our lives at times...this is a perfect opportunity to gain that perspective that often goes remiss.