A held door and words of gratitude

In 2013 my son, a recent grad of our local high school, came home from the United States Air Force Academy for Thanksgiving Break. He took the late flight from Colorado, and we picked him up at the airport. He wasn’t hard to spot, in his crisp blue uniform and close hair cut. (The service academy requires 4th class cadets to be in full uniform whenever they are not in their homes during break.) Feeling celebratory, our family headed to our neighborhood restaurant for their late night appetizers. It was a busy night at the restaurant on this eve of Thanksgiving. As we approached the entrance, a group of young men in their 20’s were laughing together as they exited. Upon seeing my uniformed son, one of these fellows stood aside, held the door open for him, and said “Thank you for your service, Sir”. Wow. I don’t know who you are, but if you happen to be reading this post, I wanted to thank you. Your kind act made an impact that we’ll always remember, and I’m grateful. It’s become a tradition now, that whenever my son gets to come home on leave, we head over to the same local restaurant for their late night appetizers. Now he’s old enough to enjoy a beer with them!