I know you all won’t read this until Memorial Day has passed, but I wanted to take this opportunity to say “thank you for your service” to all of those in our Gotham family, and beyond, who have served our country. It is an act that is way too often taken for granted but critical to each of us every single day.

 My mom told a story this weekend about my dad’s service during the Korean War. For a number of reasons, he enlisted. They had been together about a year and he went off to serve two. They wrote to each other every single day and she still has his letters.

I remember my dad talking about his service at various points over the years. He actually didn’t see much combat, it was the tail end of the war. But he was a trained teacher and was tapped early on to teach some junior officers basic English and Math skills that they did not have. For context, he was an elementary school teacher at the time. (He later became an administrator and ultimately a principal – but at the time, he taught third grade.)

 If there is someone close to you who gave his or her time to serve our country, please turn to them now and say thank you from me.

 Happy Memorial Day.