Veteran's Day

Ever since my nephew joined the Marines, I've had the same conversation anytime with Hopper every time his name gets brought up.  Hopper always asks the same things:

So, he's a soldier now? 

Is he in a war? 

Is he going to die? 

And my answers are always the same:

Yes

No, not yet

and

Yes, sometime when he's like eleventy year old in his rocking chair onboard his spaceship. 

Because, in his 6 year old mind, that's what soldiers do: they go to war and they die.

So today we talked about all the other things that soldiers do besides go to war and die. We talked about all the different things solders do for a living besides carrying a gun (though some of them do). We talked about where they live, what they wear when they're not wearing their uniforms (ninja gear, duh). We talked about all the other people in our family who have been in the military (some who died and some who didn't).  We talked about what being a soldier MEANS besides going to war and dying (though that can be part of it). I'll be honest, I'm not really sure he gets it all just yet, but we worked on it this Veteran's Day.