Around this time of year, my hometown pays tribute to the brave men and women fighting for our country, who are unable to celebrate with their families during Christmas time. As a city, we gather to create holiday boxes with food, games, clothing, and other essentials the troops will need in the coming year. Last year, I partnered with the Pleasanton Military Families Association, a collective group of military wives and children within my town, to write a series of Christmas thank you poems. These poems were shipped overseas to these deployed soldiers throughout the entirety of the Holiday Season. Here is one such poem:

I am blessed, now this is true,

For am protected beyond measure

Yes, I am grateful for my house and friends aplenty

And especially for the country that shelters me,

But these means have not compelled to write

Nay, it is for the soldiers, who fight for me day and night.

They are the heroes, who storm distant shores

And fight for the innocent;

Their valor a nation’s reward

Yes, this country that I call mine

Would be nothing without these soldiers in line,

Actively seeking to make a stand

Against tyranny and injustice to help their fellow man.

I watch them parade triumphantly down Main Street,

Knowing they fight not for their own conceit

They are selfless, courageous, and true

And all I would like to say is “Thank You!”