Editor’s note: This is the first of a two-part Ray County Voices Podcast series featuring Excelsior Springs teacher, coach and Army National Guardsman Cale Lyons. Part One focuses on Lyons’ path into military service, his early deployments and the impact spending holidays away from home has had on him and his family. Part Two will explore his later overseas deployment, returning to civilian life and how his military experience shapes his work as an educator and coach. For numerous families, holidays symbolize tradition, closeness and familiarity. However, for service members and their families, these times are frequently characterized by separation, uncertainty and extended periods of waiting. Army National Guardsman and Excelsior Springs teacher and coach Cale Lyons has experienced this reality more than once. That reality was the focus of a recent episode of the Ray County Voices Podcast, hosted by Richmond News sports editor and podcast manager Shawn Roney, who used the holiday…