Memorial Day

Every year the beginning of Summer is marked by the first 3 day weekend of the Summer, Memorial Day. It is great to have a 3 day weekend at the end of May every year. Picnics, bbq's, camping, road trips, trips to the river or lake or just lounging by the pool and hanging out with family. These are all great things to do and a lot of fun. They are necessary for our sanity for sure. But, while you are doing these fun things, I would ask you to please remember the real meaning of this day.

Memorial Day was first enacted to honor the Union and Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War and then extended after World War I to honor those Americans that lost their lives from all wars. It is to commemorate those that lost their lives while in military service.

I want to remember all service men and women. I am so grateful for the sacrifices that are made every single day to protect our freedoms, our country and our lives. The sacrifices that are made are not only to their physical bodies...putting themselves in harms way, losing limbs, getting wounded or the ultimate sacrifice, giving their lives. They also sacrifice time with their families, being able to settle down in one place for very long and they sacrifice their mental health.

I'm going to talk about that for just a minute, because that has a special place in my heart. Human beings are not made to see the things they see in war...bodies being blown apart, their comrads dying and innocent people being killed as a casualty of war. Humans are not meant to kill other humans. It's not normal. We are taught our whole lives that it is a huge sin to kill and it is not right, normal or good, and it's not. However, sometimes it has to be done to protect what is right...freedom. Free agency is what God gave us in the very beginning and we need to do what is necessary to protect that. In the beginning God had two sons. One said he would force us to comply and do what we were supposed to. The other son said He would teach us right from wrong and let us choose and make our own mistakes. Jesus Christ was willing to sacrifice his life to be our Savior and protect our free agency. That is how important freedom is. It isn't free. Even those that come home from war with no visible injuries, no scars that we can see with our eyes, they still have scars. If they say it didn't bother them, then they are lying to protect themselves. They have images of horrible things that will be forever in their minds. Some are able to get help, cope and live with it. Some are not.

I grew up in a home where it was taught how important freedom and agency are and how important it is to respect those that sacrificed for us so we could vote, express our opinions without fear, worship as we choose, right to bear arms and how important it is to have laws to continue to protect us. I was also taught that if we don't vote, then it is being disrespectful to those that sacrificed to help us keep that right. When I met my late husband, one of the things that I loved about him, was his patriotism. He was one of the most patriotic people I have ever met. He was in the Navy and then in the Army National Guard. He fought in Desert Storm. When he had a little bit of free time during the war, he worked in the POW camps in Iraq and he fought the oil fires that were burning over there. He was tormented by the things he saw and did in an act of war and many years later took his own life. My dad was in the Air Force and fought in Vietnam. He saw his best friend die right next to him. He doesn't talk about Vietnam very often, but once in a while he says something about this so it is still there and always will be.

I will be forever grateful to those from the beginning of time to present day that have laid down their lives for me and for you. They died knowing how important freedom is and that it needs to be protected at all costs, even the ultimate price if necessary.