Friday, March 4, 2011

The World Through Your Eyes

My mind is pre-occupied with my own life, boxed in my own little world of prom dresses and how much weight I just put on in Bob Evans as I'm walking out the front door of the restaurant.

I look up just in time to see an old man walking towards me. He is bent over, heavily leaning on his walker, walking slowly, stiffly, in his wooly pajama pants and tennis shoes. He wears a thick coat, and a green baseball cap adorns his head.

His glasses are wide and thick, resting on his nose. I do not look into his eyes. I just do the common courtesy of holding open the door just as anyone would do for some old man.

But then my friend stops him; she puts her hand on his arm. And she gazes into his eyes. I watch her face fill with sincerity and admiration like I have never seen in her ever before.

"World War two veteran?" she asks, just above a whisper. The old man smiles, and I notice he's missing two front teeth. "Yes," he says back, his tongue thick in his mouth. And now I notice the twinkle in his eyes behind those thick glasses.

"Thank you," my friend says, squeezing his arm, "for protecting our beloved country, and God bless you." The old man beams, and I watch his whole face come alive, and suddenly he's not some old man anymore. "Thank you," he says simply.

"I hope you have a wonderful meal," my friend continues. He flashes that brilliant smile at me.
And he tries to laugh, but it comes out silently. And I hurt for him. "I plan to," he says, and that smile never leaves his face.

We walk on to the car, and I'm no longer in my world of prom dresses and weight concerns. I'm still enraptured by your blue eyes, so bright, like staring into the depths of the ocean. Fa brief second, I stepped into your world.

In eyes so blue, as deep as the ocean, I saw a different world. One filled with pain, with horror, with screams, with death. With blood, with sacrifice, with emotion, and with love.

I look into your eyes, and I see a man who sacrificed to give me the life I have today. Even though you have no idea who I am, you sacrificed for me.

Ripped away from your home, your family, your life. Did you have a girlfriend? A wife? Children? Did you have a best friend die in the war? Or maybe a brother? Were you wounded? Do you carrry battle wounds or scars no one else knows about?

Were you strong and courageous in the midst of fear? Were you young and brave when the world seemed to be falling apart? Did you leave knowing you would never be the same again? Did you walk away wondering if you'd ever see your beloved ones again?

I look into your eyes, and I see many years flown by, and you're the witness of a time where we did not know the peace we own now. A time you lived in, endured, and survived through.

I look into your eyes and I see a time, another world that I know almost nothing about. What was it like without technology, without email? To be seperated from loved ones and from home?

I look into your eyes and I see someone just like me, who went through some of the same things I have. You had your heart broken in high school. You struggled with grades. You sometimes felt like giving up.

You got angry, you had your rebellious streaks. You disobeyed your parents. You made mistakes. You had victories. You got in trouble. You grieved, you cried, you laughed, you hurt.
You experienced fear, you experienced anxiety, worry.

You held your wife for the last time that night, praying you might see her again. You hugged your young son, told him to be a man, watch over the home. You swung your little girl in your arms, kissed her, told her you loved her.

You followed your call, you fought your own personal war. You carried honor and you carried pride as you walked away, knowing that if you ever return you would never return the same man.

But you went out there anyway And you risked your life for those you loved, and for those you don't know. You risked your life for me, to give me this beloved country of mine, that I may proudly call myself an American.

And I wonder, as I look into your eyes, how much time has passed you by without a second thought, and I can imagine you proudly standing there, so young and handsome, in an aged photo, now a worn man stiffly bent over a walker, age and wisdom lining your face.

It brings tears to my eyes as I gaze into yours, depthless, not dulled by the passing of time into another world, wondering what was in your heart then, and wondering what is in your heart now.

I am personally and directly indebted to you, and so is everyone else in this large world. This world that you have watched change around you. This world that has all too quickly betrayed you and forgotten what you have done for it.

I just want you to know how much I admire you, how much I respect you. How much I am proud to call you my brother and fellow American. And even though age has stolen your external strength and youth, I know you have internal youth and strength far beyond what I can imagine.

I am no longer boxed up in my own little world, for one look was all it took. Your strikingly blue eyes changed my life, for I'm looking at the world through your eyes.

I may not be able to say it in person, but I will say it here. Thank you, Sir, and all other men like you, for protecting my country. For giving me this life that I once took for granted. And may God bless you for the honor in which you fought our war. Your war.

You gave me a glimpse of the world through your eyes. And I pray that I will never again be the same.

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