Tyrades! by Danny Tyree

“Write something sensible.”

I’m finishing this column on the first anniversary of my mother’s passing, and I can still hear her cajoling me to cater to her down-to-earth tastes.

Her funny bone was unpretentious. She could laugh at pratfalls on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” or a tyke’s witticisms on “Kids Say the Darnedest Things”; but she seldom “got” my sense of humor, unless I was recounting a family anecdote.

No satire. No literary allusions. No puns. No song parodies.

Just “sensible.”

Just “something a human could understand.”

So, in honor of my mother, I’ll set snark and stream-of-consciousness aside and attempt to share something sensible about Veterans Day.

Surely Mom would have approved of the topic, since she had been the wife of a veteran, the sister of veterans and the aunt of veterans (as well as the descendant of a Revolutionary War veteran).

Sometimes Mom’s eccentricities, quirks and priorities could be aggravating; but I’m glad she had the freedom to indulge her whims.

Local, state and federal regulations have mushroomed since she was born in a Tennessee farmhouse in 1927, but we’re still one of the freest countries in the world.

And we owe our veterans a big thanks for their part in protecting those freedoms.

Mom was never a one-percenter, but she certainly enjoyed conveniences undreamed of in her Great Depression sharecropping days. I doubt she would have enjoyed such prosperity under the domination of a foreign enemy. Thanks again to those who have defended our shores.

Speaking of mothers, it’s undeniable that people in the dating pool can tell a lot about a potential mate’s character by how they treat their parents. (Love? Respect? Indifference? Resentment?)

And people considering a stint in the military can tell a lot about a society’s character by how it treats its veterans.

Is a veteran someone to be ignored? Tolerated? Classified as a necessary evil?

When someone casually drops by a military recruitment center, certainly the paycheck, the chance to see the world and the opportunity to master specialized skills are selling points; but there needs to be something more soul-satisfying to seal the deal.

Potential enlistees need to feel deep-down that the society and its values are WORTH risking life and limb to defend. They need to rest assured that the civilian population will respect, appreciate and support them both during and after their tour of duty.

Children are constantly absorbing habits, priorities and worldviews from the ACTIONS of adults around them. Likewise, patriotism is something that needs to be nurtured 365 days a year.

I loved my mother, but her unique blend of impulsiveness and procrastination could be vexing. Sometimes she would HURT her foot (by rashly trying to stop her house cat from darting out the front door), but other times she would DRAG her feet, waiting until she “took a notion” to perform some simple task that was for her own good.

I hope that you aren’t waiting for a mood swing to propel you into supporting our veterans.

Go ahead and MAKE yourself take a notion. Seize the opportunity to attend a parade, say “Thank you,” visit a shut-in or listen to a veteran’s story. Sponsor a Veterans Day essay contest in local schools.

It’s only sensible to give credit where credit is due. And it’s only sensible to invest in the future security of this nation.

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Copyright 2025 Danny Tyree, distributed by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate.

Danny Tyree welcomes email responses at [email protected] and visits to his Facebook fan page “Tyree’s Tyrades.”