I hope that everyone enjoyed their holiday weekends. For many it’s an extra day off of work, but for others it is a very solemn day. My dad is a veteran and it’s become a tradition to spend the holiday together. We try and do something to pay our respects. Growing up there was a parade and the local VFW held a brief service. In more recent years we’ve watched Rolling Thunder and gone to the Vietnam War Memorial.

I have the utmost respect for veterans. To be willing to make the ultimate sacrifice is incomprehensible to me. I am in awe of their courage, bravery and commitment. It is one of the things that makes me most proud of my dad.

Going to the Vietnam War Memorial is an emotional experience. To see and read what people have left behind can pull at your heart. To see people touch a name on the wall is to see them connect with a long-lost friend or loved one. I can’t fathom the memories it must bring back.

This weekend someone left an old Indian poem at the wall:

Do not stand at my grave and weep…
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow;
I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you wake in the morning hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush.
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there, I did not die…

- author unknown

Whatever Memorial Day means to you, hopefully you can take a moment to pay tribute those who have fought for freedom. It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing with war, but about the people who believe in something so strongly, passionately they died for it.

To the many men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice, thank you. I am humbled by your courage.
memorialday