We have set aside the last Monday of every May to recognize the US Armed Service members who have died while on duty, at home or abroad. We have been doing this since the American Civil War ended in 1865, when the union veterans wished to honor the Union soldiers who had died. When World War I came about the honor was extended to honor all Americans who have fought and died while in service.
What do you do on Memorial Day as a family? For us, we spend time together, cook out, enjoy each other and feel the freedom that we all have been given by those who have fought for it. I have not lost a family member to a war, or in service, but my father served as a lieutenant in the Vietnam War and came home, injured, afterward (but alive though, Thank God). I was not even a 'twinkle in the eye' of my father at that time, but if he had not come home alive, I would not be alive to tell you about this right now.
Society has also morphed this day into an excuse to show the other American sentiment of shopping. Memorial Day, as a federal holiday, spurs store sales advertised weeks in advance and women and men plan to take an additional day off of work just to recoup from exhaustion following the frenzy. Others have taken this opportunity to go to the beach and soak in the sun and bikini bodies as this time of year kicks off the summer fun. The evenings then bring about parties and fireworks which light up the sky in brilliant reds, blues and golds.
I hope that, while we indulge in our rib roasts, celebratory toasts, bikini boasts, and shopping totes, we will remember that if it weren't for the men and women who were selfless enough to recognize the need for defense of this country and our freedoms (speech, religion, self expression, pursuit of happiness, etc), that we might not have had these joys today. They put their lives on the line, and lost them, for our days to be lived with freedoms that few others can enjoy so fully. They are lost, but they are not forgotten.
Freedom is not Free
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