It’s a holiday weekend in the United States. Monday is Memorial Day which is when we honor the men and women that have died in military conflict. I am grateful for their sacrifices.
When I was a kid we went to visit my Grandpap every Memorial Day. He felt very strongly that it was important for a family to get together, eat a hamburger, and remember. It was a significant holiday for him. I think it probably meant so much because he survived WW2 and could remember a lot of friends that didn’t survive.
One year when we were visiting for Memorial Day, he declared that hamburgers would have to wait because he was walking in a parade. He lived in a very small town and they were trying to include all of their local veterans for a Memorial Day celebration. He spent some time rummaging through the back of a deep closet and emerged with his old army uniform. He tried hard to squeeze into that old uniform despite the addition of 50 years and 60 lbs. The hat was the only part that he could wear and saying that it still fit was a bit of a stretch. We lined up along the main street in town and cheered wildly. He marched proudly with that hat perched way up on top of his head.
This Memorial Day I will remember the blood that was shed to make us who we are. I will remember my Grandpap walking in that parade with his tiny hat. I will remember to eat a hamburger.