Memorial Day

I had hoped to attend a Memorial Day service this morning, but when I woke to a pouring rain, those plans fell by the wayside. That's okay - yesterday hubby and I talked, and there are other things we can do. I looked at this website about Memorial Day. It gives a lot of history about the holiday and talks about ways to remember and honor our fallen soldiers.

The "Memorial" in Memorial Day has been ignored by too many of us who are beneficiaries of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice. Often we do not observe the day as it should be, a day where we actively remember our ancestors, our family members, our loved ones, our neighbors, and our friends who have given the ultimate sacrifice:


by visiting cemeteries and placing flags or flowers on the graves of our fallen heroes.

by visiting memorials.

by flying the U.S. Flag at half-staff until noon.

by flying the 'POW/MIA Flag' as well (Section 1082 of the 1998 Defense Authorization Act).

by participating in a "National Moment of Remembrance": at 3 p.m. to pause and think upon the true meaning of the day, and for Taps to be played.

by renewing a pledge to aid the widows, widowers, and orphans of our falled dead, and to aid the disabled veterans.

We are flying the American Flag (and I must get a new pole so that I can position it to half staff. We will participate in the Moment of Remembrance at 3 pm. Most importantly, we want to start to more actively support our troops, our vets and the families of our fallen troops.

I have been involved in crocheting projects for our Marines and their families. Hubby has always been a supporter of The USO, and we try to support other military charities, but we now want to do more - we are going to look into volunteering at least once a month - perhaps at the VA Hospital. Giving of our time seems more personal that writing a check, and while our volunteering does little on a macro level, it can make a huge difference to someone on the micro level.

On a more selfish and personal level, I've done a lot of thinking this weekend about how I want to live. It's no secret that I've been completely stressed out with work, and that work has been taking away from some of the other things I want to do with my life. Today I'm thinking about all the people who have fought and sacrificed for the freedoms we have in this country- My friends children who are now serving in our armed forces, my own Dad who served the country as a young man.

I may complain about politics, but I love the fact that I have the freedom to complain, and I love the fact that this country is established on the ideas that we all have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness".

So...

On this Memorial Day, I am pledging to try to give back a little more to those who have fought to protect my rights and my freedoms, and I am pledging to live my life with better balance so that I can enjoy those freedoms.