If you think about the significance of a day like today, the cliche statement "freedom isn't free" always surfaces to the top. After spending a lot of time at US battlefields both here in the US and overseas in Europe, grave stones, those pale somber tributes are also one of the first things to pop into my mind. And those pale stones are growing in number every day in cemeteries like Arlington as soldiers die in battle, or our veterans from so many great wars before our time pass away. We are truly blessed to have so many people who have sacrificed their lives, their families, and their other career pursuits in defense of the one pivotal, defining and often controversial aspect of this country: freedom. Freedom is never free.
Memorial Day to me as a kid was one of those days we marked in remembrance of those who served our country and in celebration of the freedom we enjoy. It was the long weekend break in the school year with a fighter flyover, tons of grungy flea markets and the deadline for making the first cutting of hay. I saw a lot of people out getting that first cutting down and dry today and it reminded me of times gone by. Pitching manure out of the feedlot by hand, getting the worst sunburned neck of the year and working all day just for a decent grill-out at the end. Because even as we remember and celebrate, time goes on.
Time goes on and unyieldingly requires of us over and over again to prove just how much this freedom we have is worth. Back in high school I spent a weekend with kids from military families in an outreach program and tried to relate to the sacrifice that they feel. Freedom isn't free and it costs as much from the family of the servicemen as it does from those who are deployed. Weekends given up for training, instability for living locations due to re-deployments, the uncertainty of the job risk - never knowing if they wouldn't hear from Mommy or Daddy, or both, ever again. Every call or letter could be the last one and you could see the stress of the situation played out in every kid. Sure, they all applied it to their lives and dealt with it in unique ways but their one unifying condition was stress and uncertainty, because freedom isn't free.
This will be the 3rd year that my dad has been assigned overseas. Thankfully he doesn't often find himself in the line of fire but the stress of him being gone is still trying on the family. It wasn't until he went over that I realized just how diverse and numerous the people were who do the behind the scenes work involved in protecting and sharing our precious freedom globally. And there isn't a day gone by that I haven't missed him here, some days more than others. We don't know what a military family knows in terms of sacrifice, but I can say that I have personally experienced the trials that a family can undergo on behalf of this country's freedom. I know it's worth it; I'm just very grateful to everyone who makes a sacrifice on behalf of our country. I hope you have all find the time to get done what you wanted to accomplish this week, and that you have taken the time to thank those who fight and have fought so that you could enjoy your extended weekend.
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