Today, we’re about to commence the Memorial Day weekend.
Despite the sales on everything recreational from boats to billiard tables, this is not the commemoration of the first weekend of summer. Sure, many will enjoy opportunities to get outside and enjoy sunshine, cicadas and some stress-free downtime, but that’s a byproduct of the efforts of others.
Memorial Day is the time we take to remember those who fought -and died- for our country.
For many of us, it’s a solemn commemoration. I lost close friends in Vietnam. Since then, many of you have lost friends, neighbors, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters in a variety of places in the GWOT.
The people we remember this weekend aren’t those who made it back. Memorial Day is to remember the ones who fell to defend the rest of us. Whether they fell in Lexington and Concord, or Kabul or Kuwait City, they didn’t ask to die. But they didn’t shirk from their duties. They truly did give that “last full measure” for freedom.
Our freedom. Not theirs.
Our time of remembrance should be spent pondering what we, the living, can do that is worthy of the price they paid.
Instead of complaining of what we lack, we should celebrate what we have. Were it not for their sacrifice, I promise you all our lives would be very different.
Granted, our current political situation is nothing approaching ideal. Our government is a dysfunctional mess. Consequently, we are divided as a nation.
The divisions are bitter, and cover nearly every topic imaginable. A few were unimaginable not to long ago.
More than a third of the country thinks it’s time for a “civil divorce.” They imagine the creation of a pair of perfectly workable, but separate, red/blue nations. That’s not going to happen. At least not in the amicable way they naively believe. Separation of nations is a fever dream, nothing like their rainbows and unicorns celebration under a rainbow and bluebird skies.
In more than a half century of covering trials and other tribulations, I can assure you that the word “civil” can in no way be used in conjunction with divorce, separation or, heaven forbid, war. There’s nothing “civil” about any of them.
Here’s my suggestion for how better to celebrate this solemn weekend.
Instead of worrying about the geopolitical state of the world, concentrate on your world.
Don’t fret over things you can’t change, but don’t think you can’t change the world. The world isn’t changed in the blink of an eye, it’s changed in tiny slices.
Be one of those slices.
This weekend, go commit a random act of kindness. Better yet, go on a kindness spree.
Be the person who changes someone else’s world for the better.
The best way to honor those who sacrificed for us is to show them we appreciate the price they paid, and by paying it forward.
Do that by nurturing the good, not fixating on the bad.
We’ll be back in your mailboxes on Tuesday … keeping our promise: We’ll keep you posted.
— Jim Shepherd
