As Memorial Day was approaching this year, my thoughts went to deciding whether or not I would take our youngest to a ceremony. It's a tradition in our family that goes back to before our kids even were in our lives. This holiday was important to my husband. He had a father that had served in the Navy and then served many years in the local legion club. His father taught him all about being a patriot and being respectful and thankful to military members. He taught him how to carry and fly a flag properly. It was part of who my husband became. It was the reason why he tried to get into the military when we were first married. When the Navy said no to him, because he had too many dependents; he thought his chance of serving in the military was over. Then the Air Force Reserves came in to the picture and my husband found out that he wasn't too old to serve. We prayed about it. We knew that the time away from each other was going to be hard. I knew it was something that my husband had always wanted to do. How could I say no to him? So, in August 1996 he took the oath and he has been serving ever since. He's had to maintain a full-time job as well as train for his job in the military. There have been many times that he had to study and do work for the military at night after working a long day at his full-time job. There have been short deployments, two weeks at a time. There have been long deployments, from 6 weeks to 9 months long. And since 1996, one weekend a month, he has been away from our family. I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but when your weekends are the time that you finally get to relax and be together, it's a sacrifice that is hard on the family. Then there was the change from Air Force Reserves to Indiana Air National Guard. Both are under the Air Force.
Going to a ceremony this year without my husband will be hard. Memorial day is not for the living veterans, it's for the veterans who gave their lives while serving with the military. As far as I know or remember, I don't have any relatives that died while serving. I have lots of relatives who did serve and I am thankful for their service. However, today is about remembering those who have died.
It seems like most people these days look at Memorial day as the beginning of summer, time to open the pool or a time to go shopping for furniture or to do home improvement projects or to have a party with barbeque. There's nothing wrong with those things, but can't we all take a moment and remember why we have the freedoms that we have in America? We have the freedoms in this country that we do, because people were willing to lay down their lives for the future generations of this country. I'm afraid that the younger generations of kids won't know that. They won't remember that. We need to teach our children what happened.
Will I take our son to a ceremony today? Yes, it was important to my husband and so it is important to me. Please take a moment today and tell your children, show your children what the true meaning of Memorial Day is.
