Veteran’s Day is my favorite day of the year. This year was extra special for me because we went to Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, and did an Art & Creativity for Healing workshop. My wife, Laurie, is the founder/director of Art & Creativity for Healing, Inc., a non-profit organization based in Laguna Niguel, Calif., whose mission is to facilitate fine art classes and workshops for children and adults suffering from abuse, illness and grief.

Originally, we had planned to do the workshop for the administrators of the Wounded Worriers YMCA program. As it turned out, we had 15 attendees, eight of whom were wounded soldiers from the Marines, Navy and the Army branches of the military.

On this special Veteran’s Day, I felt at home with my brothers and sisters in the military. Using the Art4Healing® therapeutic methods, the soldiers used paint on canvas to express their feelings regarding their injuries, and wartime experiences, in front of the six other participants. These included a therapist, military officers, and YMCA staff members. One marine, when talking about his painting, expressed the joy he felt about defending our country, shared anecdotes about the day his vehicle was blown-up by a roadside bomb, or IED, and how sad he felt for his fellow marines who did not survive the explosion.

Each year, when I put on my United States Navy uniform on Veterans’ Day, I am both joyful for and proud of the 20 years I spent serving my Country. Attending the Veteran’s Day events at my granddaughters’ school in San Diego, as well as church services in uniform, gives me the opportunity to express my love for this Country and support the work of my bothers and sisters in uniform.

I am truly grateful for Veteran’s Day because it gives each and everyone of us the opportunity to take a break from our busy lives, to remember those who have fought, or our currently fighting, for our Country and our freedom.