Memorial Day Part II – So What Are We Doing with OUR Lives?

Every culture finds ways to help us stop and remember. Orchestrated moments for us all to say names, to look at pictures, to share stories, and, most particularly, to honor those whose choices enabled US to live better lives. Heroes. Individuals as different as different can be, from all ages, classes and walks of life. But what we find in all are choices and sacrifices putting the greater good ahead of their own personal well-being. It might have been a way of life or an unexpected dilemma, but they put it all on the line for their community.

What better moment could there be to stand a little longer in that appreciation and use it to consider our own lives. Memorial Day rituals connect us across generations showing the passage of time – and people. It reminds us of that most uncomfortable truth – that we are all here for a short time. And these traditions demonstrate that individual lives matter. They make a difference for those in their immediate worlds and, sometimes, for those well beyond.

I wish you all a happy Memorial Day.