What Memorial Day means to some…

By now we all know what Memorial Day means. But, as a veteran, it means more.

It means there are friends and comrades who are with our Lord now. It means there are wives and children who cry each day for their lost father or mother.

It means’s going to graves and talking to the dead about the old days, the times of the greatest commodity one will ever know. The good times, and the bad times. The ugliness of human nature, and the best of human nature. Sitting on a bench and shedding tears for the dead.

Memorial Day means finding the balance of telling my son when he asks how the Army truly is, without glorifying it, while also trying to not make a mystique about it. Trying to decide if it is right for him or not right for him then realizing when he is a man he will make his own choice about it.

It means tears over what was and what is, that time served to effect change did not do so, that lessons learned need to be learned yet again.

It means visiting the only one who can understand, my brother, and not ever talking about it, but being with one another and simply being. Knowing what each is thinking yet not knowing exactly but sharing the experience of life and death, and shedding silent tears.

Memorial day means different things to many people and to some it simply means another Holiday. But that is good in itself it means veterans did their job. They spent their Holidays in combat so that others can spend the day freely as they choose.

I smile when I see people celebrating the day as they see fit, I don’t get upset if they don’t understand the meaning of the day. It warms my heart to see children playing and picnickers picnicking and all the other fun activities. It means I did not spend my time in vain, it means the time I spent and the things I did gave them this right.

Celebrate life, enjoy the Holiday and know that there are still people out there in the periphery keeping you safe.