Yesterday Cody attended school and was the guest speaker for the Veterans Day assembly. He dressed in his blues, and WOW!
At first I was worried about him speaking given his only just graduating from boot camp two days prior, but quickly I was inspired by the impact he made on the students.
His speech was centered around how he used to feel about Veterans Day, how he feels now, and most importantly what the Marine Corps has given him as a human being.
MANY eyes were wet; it was an emotional day...it's been an emotional week.
Later Cody talked to several classes about his experiences at boot camp. I have enjoyed hearing about everything!
One of my favorite and most touching stories is when Cody handed me a plastic bag. This bag was dirty and had been folded a million times.
Inside the bag was a worn letter. I opened it up, and it was a letter from his little sister. He carried it in his left pocket right above his heart for every day of recruit training after he had received it.
One day they were out in the field and a drill instructor was patting him down and happened to find the letter. The DI of course freaked out, yelling at Cody about what the letter was.
Cody yelled back, "This is a letter from this recruit's little sister, sir!"
The DI normally would take a letter (considered contraband if carried on person) and rip it to pieces in front of the recruit's face, but instead he handed it back to Cody and walked away.
I love that story on a hold bunch of levels, but what I think is super sweet is I can just imagine the times when Cody felt low and read that letter which made him smile and keep on keeping on!
Well, with Veterans Day (Which by the way I have researched and the federal government does not use an apostrophe...I was trying to figure out where the apostrophe officially goes because there are many veterans, so I thought it would go after the "s".), OK, with Veterans Day approaching, remember Cody's words: Be appreciative for the liberty and freedom that you have in your life!
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