V Day

Throughout my life, I have suffered from acute identity crisis, a common malady among pop culture kids. In my adolescence, I was first a headbanger, then a cowboy, then a white boy trying to have some soul, then a farm boy, then a football player. In college, I was a fraternity kid, then an ROTC guy, then a college columnist, then an affectionate poem reader who wore turtle necks and dark-rimmed glasses. After college, I was a professional, then a marathon runner, then a triathlete, then a Lyme disease patient. Now, after Iraq, I am a veteran, the one identity I am sure will stick for the rest of my life. And one I will always be proud of.

To all of my fellow veterans, happy V Day. It’s our day.