First and foremost, Happy Memorial Day to each and every one of you that reads this...please accept my sincere thoughts of thanks & gratitude (as well as my deepest sympathies) to those families who are celebrating the TRUE MEANING of Memorial Day.
It made me begin thinking about what age are you when you first learn what Memorial Day is NOT:
It is NOT the holiday that signifies the start of Summer (it has become a barometer for that because we associate the opening of pools with Memorial Day weekend).
It is NOT a holiday honoring all the fine grill masters out there (even though we associate Memorial Day with barbecues across the United States).
It is NOT just an extra day off where you can expect the highways and airports to be jammed all weekend long (even though it DOES give you a day off of work but it is NOT intended or required that you travel).
It is MOST CERTAINLY NOT an opportunity to enforce an individual or party agenda (do you REALLY think our ancestors cared about the political affiliation of the soldier laying next to them in a hole fighting for their lives)
Memorial Day is about honoring those soldiers who made the decision to protect their country at any cost and by any means necessary.
Memorial Day is the day we observe those soldiers that paid the ULTIMATE PRICE...they gave their life in service of the country we all live in and love.
Plain and simple, their ultimate sacrifice affords each and every one of us the opportunity to live our lives the way we want. You know, we hear that comment made a ton but it REALLY is a fact that those that died have given us the opportunity to live.
Unofficially considered the start of Summer, Memorial Day occurs each year on the last Monday in May and is usually associated with parties, vacations, barbecues and gatherings but Memorial Day is a day of tribute, not to grills and beers, but to the dead. Specifically, those that died in service with the US Military
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