Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day--well, for another two hours at least. For many folks it is a time to take the family outdoors, have a barbecue, go to the beach, or something else that lets them reconnect with the people, places, and passions that make life worth living. It is a perfectly fitting thing for these weekend holidays to take place, as this weekend marks the unofficial beginning of summer festivities and is the bell ringer marking the approach for every youngster's favorite time of year, Summer Vacation.

No one should be chastised for the exuberance felt and the playfulness awakened this weekend by those taking such endeavors. However, Memorial Day was not created for the purpose of personal comfort, recreation, and getting a Monday free from the Boss. Memorial Day is a holiday circumscribed and enshrined for the greatest no longer among us: our country's fallen soldiers.

One may think that the matter of making this point to people assumed both room temperature and dead-horse status ages ago, but it certifiably bears repeating. Last week a good friend of mine asked me why there's Memorial Day. She was born in America but essentially raised her whole life in Thailand, so she had a pretty good reason for being ignorant about it. I also know that our college academic years ended in early May while we attended. But still, she had gone to a four-year institution in America (which it should be noted does NOT mark or celebrate Veterans' Day in November) without ever being educated on one of our national holidays!

It is simply a travesty that we are failing on many levels to cultivate patriotism and educate people to their very core on the sacrifices by those who have not only gave their all for their country, but, by their very action, provided the mystic stitches that bind this country together. For America was founded by those magnificent souls who brandished the muscat in their hands and the love of freedom in their hearts. When we forget the importance of martial nobility, faith, and sacrifice as the backbone of our civic heritage, all that we are as a nation is cheapened and debased as a result.

Now if I were at home in Southwestern Oregon today, I would have gone to the cemetery where my grandfather, George, is buried, and I would have lain flowers in his memory. He was a young member of the Greatest Generation and flew in bombers during WWII. He died before I was born, so I never got to sit on his lap and ask him to regale me of his sorties over Europe. I really would have enjoyed that. I was not home today, but I got to spend time out in the yard helping my Mom's cousin with work that needed to be done. I sit and wonder--did I do my part today to remember the fallen?

It occurred to me that these heroes of our past--and sadly our present--would be just as happy with people simply being conscientious and quietly respectful of this day as those folks went about their lives, enjoying the freedom they bought with their lives. As long as we take some time out to quietly recognize the sacrifices, to help veterans' we know, or do something to comfort our neighbors with loved ones abroad, we should not be ashamed to enjoy Memorial Day as we please. We had just better know why we are getting the day off and why the streets are lined red, white, and blue. Anything less would demonstrate that we are not a country worthy of such sacrifices.

First Post

Greetings everyone! (Er, no one, since nobody knows about this blog yet...but whatev.) Anyway, I'll get underway posting and explaining the name in a short time.