Memorial Day — A Time to Remember
MEMORIAL DAY–A TIME TO REMEMBER*: Memorial Day is a federal holiday to remember and honor those persons who have died while serving in the United States Armed Forces. Many of them were eager to go and fight for freedom, to right the wrong, to save the suffering and oppressed. Others chose to serve because they felt it was their duty; it was as simple and as complicated as that. There were those who served because they were conscripted or drafted and had little choice. Some may have enlisted to gain naturalized citizenship or a pathway to financial security. But whatever the reason, they all served their country; they all faced challenges, fears, loneliness, and deprivations of some sort be it food, comfort, or the companionship of family and friends. They did what was difficult for our benefit and the benefit of others. Heroes? Yes! We owe them our eternal gratitude for their ultimate sacrifice.
Memorial Day has also evolved into a day to remember those who have gone before us. Some visit the cemetery where loved ones are buried, or they attend places of worship. But I would guess that for most of us, it is a day of picnics and social gatherings, visits to garden centers, trips back from the cabin, a jump on summer chores, or getting ready for the next workweek. How beneficial it would be to take a moment to remember.
Remember those who touched our lives especially for the better. At my age, I can think back on a legion of people, now gone, who helped me along the way! My brother-in-law’s parents who gave me an old, light-green, sectional couch for my first apartment, so I had something upon which to sit. Priests who were the father figures I never had. Doctors who saved my life with such compassion. Friends with whom I laughed and shared secrets. I have been blessed with so many friends, family members, and benefactors, who through their kindness and love, live on in my heart. Even those who travelled along this road of life with me for whom I possess negative memories – I remember them in their broken humanness…and reflect on my own insufficiencies.
M and I like to visit old cemeteries when we travel – not as primary destinations, but if we have time. I always find it interesting to see what people have had inscribed on their gravestones. One inscription that seemed universally popular back in the day, “As you stand now, so once was I,” always gave me pause. Still does.
“As you stand now, so once was I.” How will you be remembered?
*Reprinted from a blog I wrote on May 30, 2022
