Tomorrow I head to the hills, to explore a new trail on our public lands. The freedom to enjoy these lands is due to others who have served our country to protect us. Many of whom have given their lives doing so. A friend posted this note on Facebook about Memorial Day and I plan to take it to heart. I may not visit a cemetery, but I plant to visit my church in the mountains, reflect on the day, and remember the fallen.
Memorial Day. Please do not thank me for my service, but rather try to remember what that day memorializes. It is not the veterans at the American Legion or VFW, it's not your facebook friends, and it's certainly not me. If you want to thank someone for their service; take a walk through your local cemetery, find the grave of a fallen service member, turn your cell phone off, close your mouth, and open your ears. That is the silence of the dead. Those are the ones you should be thanking, not us.
Enjoy the warmth of summer, enjoy the time with your friends and families, drink it all in, because the silent fields where our brothers and sisters rest attest to the price that was paid and why we remember. At some point, find the name of one of those that were lost. Say their name out loud, I believe that speaking their name, in a small way, keeps their memory alive. It is the least we can do.
Please enjoy your weekend, do not grieve for their loss. Celebrate that they were here, if only for a while, and live to the fullest for those that never got to. But please, do not thank me for my service, not on this day. Remember the fallen.
