Drills

This morning, I was discussing Veteran's Day with my youngest daughter. Her dad was in the Navy and her impression is that he lived on a ship and had a gun. Well, no, honey, he didn't have a gun. So how did he shoot the bad guys in the war? Hmm. How do you explain to kids that we have a military for reasons other than war? And do they really even understand what war is? I probably thought the same thing when I was her age. I knew my Dad was in the Army and that he had been in Germany. I probably had visions of him fighting Nazis even though he hadn't been born until after the end of World War II. I know they will learn all about these things in school as they get older. The anniversary of 9/11 gave them a horrible taste of war and terrorism and tragedy. It's weird - they are far removed from it but it's still so much a part of their lives. For instance, they have shelter drills in school. I knew about fire drills and then found out about evacuation drills but this one was new to me. My daughter told me something about sitting on the floor, bending down and putting your arms over your head. She asked how many of those drills I had as a kid. Of course, the answer is none. I do remember seeing "fallout shelter" signs in schools. Do you remember those? That yellow circle with black triangles? You never really knew what it was for because we didn't have those kinds of drills in the late 70s and 80s. We just had the simple-fire-drill-walk outside to the parking lot-be quiet-and go back inside kind of drills. There was never any reason for us to lockdown a building and put red or green signs in the window depending on the level of danger. There was no reason to line up near a wall away from any windows where glass could shatter. None of that was ever an issue. Now I am part of the safety team at my oldest's school. As I sat in that meeting, my stomach started to turn. I listened to the teachers and staff make plans for disaster. They were calm and matter-of-fact and very thoughtful and organized about it. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry because I couldn't get over the fact that these drills are now just a common part of life. I'm not upset about the drills. But, I'm upset that they have to exist. I'm upset because there are crazy people who do stupid things like go into a school and hurt people. I wish my kids didn't have to know that bad things like that exist. But I am also glad that I live in a country where there are men and women who dedicate their lives to protecting me and my family. We take our freedom for granted but they still provide that freedom for us. Thank you to anyone who has ever been a part of the U.S. Military. You are a blessing.