In light of recent events, the word honor has come up in our news cycle a lot this year. Unfortunately, a lot of the usage of this word has been in regard to victims of fatal shootings that have characterized 2017 in the United States. People come together to honor the memory of victims and to honor their families. Memorials honor their memory. Unfortunately, the honor is all retroactive. We have no precautionary implementations that could keep this from happening; instead, we honor victims post-mortem.

Today is a day set aside to honor the brave men and women that defend our country. All around the country there are parades, services and events regarding our Armed Forces. The word honor will take on a different meaning today than most other days. It is a word that will not only describe the dead, but also the living who are willing to risk their own lives for our safety. These people will be honored today using the primary definition of the word. The rest of us fall into the secondary definition of the word: having the honor of living in the free country.

This sentiment is not talked about nearly enough. With the current state of the country and its leadership, it is easy to believe that we are unfortunate. The truth is, anyone in this country is privileged and lucky to live here. Those who we honor today fight for our right to remain a free and democratic society. It is our honor to be allowed the freedom and opportunities we have in this country.

The United States is not perfect; there are a lot of problems. As we learn to deal with our demons, we will honor those who have lost their lives, those who fight for our rights -  and we will continue to understand the honor it is to live in this great country.

-          Bria