Memorial Day is upon us again. It is known as the official start to the summer. However, the meaning has been lost through the years. What do we need to do to get it back?
How Do You Celebrate?
Everyone has their own way of celebrating the Memorial Day Weekend. People pack their bags and head to the beach, or go hunt down the many sales offered up by merchants. Others on this day might attend parades or go to cemeteries to pay tribute to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. I for one will keep it low-key as always.
I will think about my uncle who died in WWII, protecting his country and our freedoms. I will also think about those servicemen and women, who today are making my life here possible, the way I want to live it.
Enjoy But Don’t Forget
We all take holidays such as Memorial Day for granted. Reminding ourselves the meaning of the day, sometimes gets away from us. The younger generations take for granted that their life is a given right. All we need to do is to go back in the history of our country and see that everything we cherish and have, was most often than not, achieved through a battle. In those wars, we lost people who took our freedoms and rights, and defended them to the end.
Let’s remember too, respecting our flag on this day and everyday. We hear so much about how many people have no respect for our flag and our National Anthem. Those men and women who lost their lives would understand the rights that they gave to those individuals to dissent. However, there is a time and a place to separate your protests from respecting those freedoms you were given. Stand up proud to respect your flag and remind yourself before you kneel or sit during the anthem, on Memorial Day or any day, people lost their lives for you!
Coming Together on Memorial Day
If holidays like Memorial Day can bring us together, even for a few hours, than so be it. The separation in this country is mind-boggling. In over 50 years of being on this planet, I have seen it just get worse and worse. Not being able to get past bad history and differing opinions, has made coming together, an unapproachable goal. Let the common denominator on this day then be this: Remember those we have lost to war defending our freedoms through the years and respect your country.
It doesn’t matter whether you were born here or not. You are here now and contributing in most cases to this country. Compare it to others, and see if you want to leave. If you do that’s a choice you can make. As a citizen, love this country for what it affords you. You may not get those things anywhere else!