We are alive now on the Conversations That Matter podcast.

I'm your host, John Harris.

Happy Veterans Day to everyone out there.

I hope if you were able to, if you weren't working today or you had a break from work,

that you were able to attend a Veterans Day ceremony.

This has become more important to me as my child grows up because I know as a child I went to these

into my teens. And I think it's encouraging for older veterans, especially Vietnam era veterans,

but I think any veteran, to see young children attend these things. I know that's part of the

reason my parents took me when I was younger, but also for children

to understand they're part of something bigger than themselves.

They're part of a community.

And that community includes men and women who have sacrificed a great deal to keep this

community going that they live in.

And it was a good time in a way, also a sobering time, even though it was only a 20-minute,

25-minute ceremony, maybe 30.

I don't know.

It was pretty short.

But I realized something.

I haven't been to a Veterans Day event in quite some time. And I was trying to remember why that was. How come I think the last time I went was in my 20s. And I think there's a combination of things being disconnected to some extent, being in communities where I'm there for school and normally busy up to my eyeballs in various things, work-related things.

I don't know.

It just, I don't think I've been to one in a long time. And there's no excuse for this. It's just, uh,

Veterans Day comes and goes. And if I see veterans out in public, I tend to try to say thank you. And

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