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Thursday, November 22, 2007

Thanksgiving

This is Steven Petrick Posting.

Today is a day set aside by the government of the United States for the people to give thanks. Not every American citizen will "give thanks" today because of their own individual choices, the overwhelming majority will.

Whether you choose to give thanks or not, at the very least take a little time to consider that even on this holiday, there are hundreds of thousands of your fellow citizens who are hard at work providing you the safety and security to give thanks, or choose not to.

I do not just mean the soldiers who, even on this day, may be "outside the wire" conducting patrols to find those whose ultimate goals are inimical to our way of life, but also the firemen sitting in their stations awaiting, even on this day, the call to save lives and property. The Law Enforcement Officers who, even today, must patrol our streets. The Doctors and Nurses who continue to treat the ill and the injured, and the paramedics waiting by their ambulances and medevac helicopters to spring to the rescue.

The vast majority of us are safe and secure because a small minority is constantly on guard to keep us so. Yes, they are paid to provide us this service, but do not forget that even though they are paid, they volunteered and chose their lives that others could have their turkey and dressing in the blissful ignorance that the world is full of dangers waiting to strike at any moment.

So, while you give thanks for the bounty of your table, the joy of your family, the blessings of your and their good health, take a moment to also offer thanks to those who, behind the scenes, are the shield that makes it all possible.