Sorry guys...not quite.
Don't get me wrong - the last weekend in May is a great time to break out all the summer gear. The winter cold, and the spring rains have mostly passed (except here in WI where it was 45° this morning!), the sun is coming out and the world is green once more. Kids are getting out of school, anxious to have some fun. And, conveniently, most people get a long weekend from work!
How often, though, do we forget the reason that so many people have extra time off? How many kids today leave school on Friday, and have no idea why they don't have school until Tuesday. Why is it so easy to create legends like Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, yet we can't tell our children a story about men and women that have given their lives for the freedom of our country?
For centuries, these brave men and women have laid down their lives for hundreds of thousands of people that they will never meet, and who will never give them a second thought - so they could have the freedom to attend the church of their choice...or not to attend church at all. So that children can grow up to be adults that picket the funerals of the very soldiers that earned them that freedom.
Cemeteries all across the country are filled with the graves of those who have gone before. But the sacrifice comes much earlier. The sacrifice begins on the day that these young people sign their name on the dotted line in the recruiter's office. From that day forward, their life is not their own - it belongs to their country. When She calls, they must come.
The soldiers that have given their lives, both those in the past, and those that are serving today, are not the only ones who deserve a heartfelt 'Thank you' this weekend. Their families sacrifice as much as the soldiers do, for when they are called to duty, their family is left behind. Children, wives, mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, friends - we are left to continue living as though our heart wasn't a million miles away. As though we aren't waiting for the phone to ring, and that strange voice to tell you that your loved one will only be coming home one last time...followed by a 21-gun salute.
So this weekend, enjoy your cookouts, enjoy your families! That is, afterall, why these heroes serve. But take a moment, pull your children to your side, and tell them why they're out of school on Monday, and why there are American flags flying everywhere you turn. Raise up a generation that is grateful for the sacrifice of those that have come before.
Happy Memorial Day!
