bark & bite

Unless you're living under a rock then you know that this week Amercia's public enemy #1, Osama Bin Laden, was located and attacked in a secret mission by our Navy Seals! Now, I know everyone has their own personal opinion on all of the ins and outs associated with Bin Laden, his mission as a terrorist, America's role in the wars overseas and now finally Bin Laden's demise but I'm not here to debate anyone or even share my own opinion. I am here to tell you a sweet, sweet story about two little boys who see our country and it's military as invincible, strong, powerful and truly nothing less then heros! The morning after the news broke of Osama Bin Laden's death I knew that the story would captivate every media outlet. You couldn't turn on the TV without hearing updates, seeing mission reenactments and receiving breaking news tid-bits of information. You almost couldn't watch HGTV without hearing about Bin Laden! Ha! OK...that may be an exaggeration, but you get my point! Anyway, as we watched the latest updates on what had transpired the night before in an obscure compound far from where we slept safe and sound both of my boys began asking alot of questions. They can tell when there is something serious on TV. They can tell simply by the tone of the reporters voice and even the music being played behind news stories that something took place and not just something...but something sorta scary. I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to answer their questions or even how much I wanted them to know. I knew, though, that I wanted to give them some explanation and so I took a deep breath and dove right in. I explained to the boys that the man they were seeing pictures of on TV was a very, very, VERY bad man. He was a "bad guy" and the army had killed him. (I know, I know...as soon as I told them he was killed I wasn't sure if I should have shared that but ultimately I'm glad I did.) As soon as I said he was dead, Ashtyn especially had many more questions. He asked all the 6-year-old questions..."why was he bad?", "how bad was he?", "did our army catch him?", "so he can't ever hurt anyone again, right?"....I answered all of Ashtyn's questions and then the lights in his eyes suddenly went on!! "Wait, mom, so OUR army killed him?" I answered "Yes..." Ashtyn then said something I will never forget "So, did Uncle Tyler catch him...???" Ashtyn looked puzzled and a bit excited all at the same time. You see, Brandon's younger brother, Tyler, served four years in the infantry and was deployed to Iraq for one year. The boys both know that Uncle Tyler fought the bad guys overseas and apparently they beleive that anything "our army" does Uncle Tyler must have been involved in. I didn't have the heart to give Ashtyn the real answer and so kind of dodged the question all together! I guess when it comes down to it it doesn't really matter if the boys beleive their Uncle Tyler helped catch Osama Bin Laden or not. In fact, I think it's kinda neat that they do! They both idolize him so much and Maddox even wants to join the army when he grows up! (Of course, he thinks he can fight in the army when he is 12 and we haven't broken it to him yet that that's not quite the case...! Ha!) No matter your thoughts about what happened to Osama Bin Laden and no matter your political views or personal opinions I don't think anyone can deny the power of heros! Both my boys already have such a strong appreciation for what our military does for our country and that's something I'm proud of! Thank you to Tyler and every other soldier in every other branch of military for the continued service to us as Americans. Your sacrifice is appreciated but more importantly it's looked up to!