Memorial Day is not about Barbecues, drinking, pool openings, or long weekends. Those things have become habit for almost all of us, I am sure. The intent of this weekend is to remember those we have lost, to visit their memories and remember that they died so that all of us could enjoy the freedoms we do each and every day.
I was walking into Wal-Mart the other day to purchase something (milk, I think) and was confronted by a sign hanging by the entrance that said "Put some flowers on a veteran's grave this weekend!" Well, this upset me. I got teary-eyed in the middle of the store, thinking of my veteran husband and what he is about to do for us.
You see, I am selfish. I do not want the folded flag, the Purple Heart, the Medal of Honor. I want my husband to return safely to me, free of injury. I realize he is risking his life, but I refuse to actually believe that it is possible for him to be hurt. He will return to me. Unharmed.
This provoked thought of all of those American families who lost loved ones. For all for us. They thought their husbands, sons, brothers, sisters, mothers, cousins, friends would all return to them also. Unharmed. They did not. They returned wounded, disabled, both physically and psychologically. Or their bodies came home while their souls went on. This is what Memorial Day is about. This, and only this.
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