It is going to happen. I promise… You are going to get behind someone in traffic today who is moving at a snail’s pace. And you will be tempted. I know you will. You will be tempted to sit on your horn, or say something under your breath that would not make your mother proud.

If that doesn’t happen, then it could be that you are going to be behind a person in line at Wal-Mart who is not familiar with the latest check writing procedure that has been recently introduced. Signing what does not look anything like a signature on some electronic contraption is not what that person is accustomed to doing. Once again you will be tempted. Your natural inclination is to get an exasperated look on your face and secretly wish that the individual in front of you could have found another line.

You may have wait a little longer at your doctor’s office today, because that same individual is discussing the lengthy list of medications that he takes everyday with his doctor. Some of those prescriptions are costing him up to $7.00 per day per pill. He never dreamed in a million years that he would be taking all of those meds. Or it could be that he is discussing other health related issues with his physician…

When we get behind that person in traffic today, I wonder where he is going. He acts as if he has nowhere to go and all day to get there. I have a hunch that is not the case. It could be that he is trying to make it to the nursing home by noon, so he can feed his wife of over 60 years. She was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s a few years back, and now he can no longer care for her at home. There are good days, when she recognizes him. And there are not so good days too. Our elderly gentlemen may very well have been purchasing necessities for her at Wal-Mart, as he attempted to work through the latest check signing procedure at America’s favorite retailer. The consultation at the doctor’s office took a little longer than the average visit. Alzheimer’s is a complicated disease….

I really should introduce you to this elderly gentleman. He is indeed a figment of my imagination in the sense that he does not have a name. But most importantly he is a veteran. He landed on the beach at Normandy during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944. Or maybe he jumped out of airplanes in the Pacific during WWII and rescued downed pilots. Perhaps he served in a medical unit in Korea in the early ‘50’s. Even some of our Vietnam vets are reaching the stage in life of being elderly and more dependent.

Think twice today before you get impatient. He sacrificed a lot in his life long before any of us were born. He may have left a young bride behind to serve his country back in the day. He postponed his education and his career to protect freedoms that we take for granted. He put his life on the line for each of us. Take a few moments to listen to his story. He has a lot to share.

My father would have celebrated his 84th birthday on November 26th this year, if he were still living. If he were still around, he could very well be one of those old men in traffic holding up progress. My father was a WWII veteran. He was in pilot training preparing for a Japanese Invasion when President Truman ordered atomic bombs to be dropped on Japan in August of 1945. He was discharged honorably from the Army Air Corps not longer after that event, and completed his education at the University of Georgia. I am thinking about him today. In fact, I am thinking about all of our veterans today. I know it is going to happen, but could be possibly envision that old man in traffic in a crisp military uniform before we get all bent of shape?