I think for many of those who have served, the two “holidays” that cause us to reflect the most are Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

I remember my Dad (a WWII vet) and many other of his generation always referring to Memorial Day as Decoration Day. Back before Memorial Day became a floating holiday (to give everybody a three day weekend), no matter what the weather was like or how much work needed to be done on the farm he would always take always take a couple of hours off. Mom would prepare some vases with flowers from the garden and the whole family would travel to the cemetery. Among the graves we stopped at were always his dads’ (a WWI vet) and his Great Granddads’ (a wounded Civil War Vet) graves and place flowers.

It took a long time (and spending some time in the service myself) to realize what the real significance of this day is and why my dad did what he did. We had all lost some people we knew while they were on active duty……there but for the grace of God.

Anyway here are my hopes that everybody has a safe and happy holiday, and thanks to those who have served and especially those who have lost a loved one or friend who was serving the country.


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