Next week will make a year since this Purple Heart was put on my brother and sister-in-law’s Xmas tree. (I think my brother put it on the tree when he received it to lighten the load of why he was receiving it.) And so I get to their house today and what’s the first thing I see? My brother’s Purple Heart. Why do I write about this? Because next week it will be one year since my brother came home with this Purple Heart. Home 2 months early. Home with a hole in his arm. Home with several other soldiers who are still to this day going through surgeries and therapies to heal. Home having seen and experienced more than any 26 year old should have to. But home nevertheless. And yet he still pushes on, still serves his country with more heart and soul than ever. To me, my brother is such a huge inspiration. Not just for serving his country. For doing what others told him he would never be able to do. For being a leader among his peers, even though he often times is one of the youngest. So this Purple Heart means more to me than what it’s supposed to mean. Yes, it reminds me of the attack my brother and his friends endured a year ago. But it also means that you can’t let people tell you no. If they doubt you or challenge you, use it as a source of strength and prove yourself. And more than anything, it reminds me that I can’t let my age or what other people are doing or what they say hold me back. And as I sit at my brother and sister-in-law’s in North Carolina (freezing might I add) I see this purple heart on the tree and it reminds me of all these things.

Next week will make a year since this Purple Heart was put on my brother and sister-in-law’s Xmas tree. (I think my brother put it on the tree when he received it to lighten the load of why he was receiving it.) And so I get to their house today and what’s the first thing I see? My brother’s Purple Heart.

Why do I write about this? Because next week it will be one year since my brother came home with this Purple Heart. Home 2 months early. Home with a hole in his arm. Home with several other soldiers who are still to this day going through surgeries and therapies to heal. Home having seen and experienced more than any 26 year old should have to. But home nevertheless. And yet he still pushes on, still serves his country with more heart and soul than ever.

To me, my brother is such a huge inspiration. Not just for serving his country. For doing what others told him he would never be able to do. For being a leader among his peers, even though he often times is one of the youngest.

So this Purple Heart means more to me than what it’s supposed to mean. Yes, it reminds me of the attack my brother and his friends endured a year ago. But it also means that you can’t let people tell you no. If they doubt you or challenge you, use it as a source of strength and prove yourself. And more than anything, it reminds me that I can’t let my age or what other people are doing or what they say hold me back. And as I sit at my brother and sister-in-law’s in North Carolina (freezing might I add) I see this purple heart on the tree and it reminds me of all these things.