Memorial Day - 2010

We had a fabulous Memorial Day celebration this year! It was so meaningful to me, personally, and I love that our children are old enough now to more actively participate. It started with a portion of our worship service on Sunday being dedicated to Memorial Day. We had guests from the local VFW and American Legion posts walk into the sanctuary with colors (the flags), led by my husband in his old Navy uniform. On the way to church the children had fun taking turns wearing hubby's hat (really called a "cover", but the kids call it a hat. And no, we don't let Little Man sit on laps while driving ~ this was in the church parking lot!).



My husband has had the honor for several years of being the point man for our elderly veteran guests from the VFW and American Legion. He greets them when they arrive at church, talks them through the plan for the service, and escorts them into the sanctuary with the flags at the proper time. This year I was privileged to join him in greeting our guests, and I really enjoyed learning more about several of them, and having the opportunity to thank them individually for their service to our country. The following day there was to be a parade and ceremony in our little town, and they invited my husband to walk with them in the parade!

So we got up early on Memorial Day ~ my husband left to assemble for the parade and the children and I followed shortly afterward. My hubby is just to the right of center, in the brown suit. He told me later he felt a bit awkward walking in the parade with the older veterans, receiving applause and thanks from the enthusiastic crowd. He doesn't feel as if he has done anything worthy of such honoring (he is a veteran of Desert Storm, but doesn't equate that with the Vietnam War or Korean War, or especially WWII ~ which there were a couple of WWII vets there!). But he realizes that he can be a symbol to others of the military, and in this way help them to remember and honor the fallen who have died defending our freedom, and because of this I believe he plans to march every year from now on.





After the parade we gathered in Memorial Park for a ceremony. We had brought 2 chairs which we offered to elderly vets and they politely declined, insisting on standing throughout the entire 40 minute ceremony. So instead, the children shared the chairs when they tired of standing. We were behind a bunch of other people and they couldn't see the person who was speaking, so it was hard for them to stay engaged at this point. It was then that I had an epiphany.


Remembering requires effort. It is much easier to forget.

It would have been easier to sleep in. It would have been easier to stay at home. It would have been easier to not stand for 40 minutes. It would have been easier to not be there, quietly shushing the children and explaining the ceremony to them. Yes, that would have been easier. But it would not have been better.

The best thing we could have been doing on Monday morning, was standing right there....REMEMBERING. Remembering that freedom is not free. It has come at great cost, and it continues to require effort of all kinds to maintain it. Remembering those who were willing to sacrifice their future so that we could have ours. Remembering the sheer magnitude of fallen soldiers, and resolving that they will not have died in vain. Yes, remembering requires effort. But it is sooooo worth it.

The ceremony was incredibly moving for my husband and I, and we were so glad we had made the effort to go. Afterward we went out for breakfast and that redeemed the morning for our children! For the rest of the day we had thunderstorms and torrents of rain, so it was a leisurely day spent inside. However, with the help of our patio umbrella, my husband was still able to grill chicken for dinner!

Does your town still have a parade or ceremony in honor of Memorial Day? How does your family commemorate this day?