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Evie got an A+ on the presentation. Better still, it was shown to the entire school on Veterans Day, and the principal stated that it was the most professional treament of the subject by a student that he had seen in his years of teaching.

Even better still, on the way home from school that day, Evie mentioned that for the first time, something she'd done had made people think. She was more proud of that accomplishment than she was for the grade she received.

That's the brass ring, folks. That's the toughest thing of all to accomplish in this world today, and it's a mark of true warriorship. As Evie was putting this program together, she asked for my help in coming up with as suitable ending. I suggested that she take some time to emphasize just for what these succeeding generations of vets fought and in some cases sacrified their lives. Evie already understood that the vets had fought for freeedom - well and good. But I suggested that a lot of folks didn't really understand just what freedom was all about - think about your classmates, I said. How many of them really have a clue? Evie rolled her eyes at that thought. I told her that most folks, if asked what freedom was, would flounder around and/or come up with some totally lame answer. I convinced Evie that she had not only an opportunity to get some folks to think about the nature of freedom, but that, in the light of he sacrifies of our vets and the state of he country today, she had a duty to do so. I recited the Margaret Thatcher quote as an example.

That's where I left things, and she just took it from there. The great irnoy is that her biological dad and his wife are liberal fools and America-haters: they won't even let her display an American flag when she vists them in Seattle because, they said, they're not patriotic. They think that patriotism is "all about wanting to have power" - or at least, that's how Evie understands their explanation. She and her twin brother have nothing but contempt for people like that.