Keepers grew up in the midst of the Viet Nam War.  In fact, we were in our first and only full year of college when Kent State happened.  Many of our friends who fought in Viet Nam came home having lost a limb or having given part of their sanity to the efforts over there but most of our friends came home in body bags.  Unfortunately, not one of them had reached the age of 21 when they went to war over there.  Still, each one of the men or boys who left home to fight in Viet Nam was a true hero in every sense of the word.  Even though it is now many years later keepers are thinking of our lost hero friends this Memorial Day just as we always have.

But Memorial Day also causes keepers to pause and think about all the unsung heroes in this world–the people who take on huge tasks and change the world a little bit by showing kindness and compassion to others.  Good therapists who work well with MPD/DID are unsung heroes on this earth.  They go above and beyond the call of duty and do so much to make the path easier for those who suffer with the issues of living in multiplicity.  The neighbor who reaches out a friendly hand to someone down the street who happens to be homebound is also an unsung hero–giving from her heart and letting that person know  he/she really does matter to someone is an unsung hero that few even ever know about.  The son or daughter who treats his/her aging parents with caring and respect is an unsung hero because, in today, so many sons and daughters just turn away out of anger and disgust.  The little girl who makes pretty greeting cards by hand and sends them to her lonely friends is an unsung hero because she is constantly making days brighter for others.  In other words, many of the ordinary and every day people in our lives (those we tend to take for granted) are just as much heroes as anyone else on this earth.  The problem is that they are heroes in a much quieter and much less obvious way which means they do not get the ticker tape parades or accolades that more obvious heroes get.

Many of keepers friends who went off to war in Viet Nam told us that they had found a cause that was worth dying for which many of them did.  Our son said the same to keepers when he wanted to join the service and fight in Desert Storm.  Each one of these men was a truly great man who had a found a cause they saw as worth dying for.  We thank them for their strength and courage.  We love them for the human beings we knew them as.  We let them go because the time has come.

But the other heroes of which we speak are just as much heroes and doing a great deal to change the face of America on a much smaller and less obvious plane.  These are the unsung heroes who have found causes that are worth living for.  These are the heroes who touch people’s hearts every day and so often bring a smile in the midst of unending tears. Keepers thank these unsung heroes from the bottoms of our hearts for just being the human beings that they are.

Keepers will spend tomorrow honoring those men who have been laid to rest after having lost their lives in war.  We will grieve the friends we have, personally, lost in wars.  We will also celebrate the unsung heroes who have come our way and shown us what it means to have a cause worth living for.

peace and blessings,

keepers