Tuesday, May 28, 2024
Memorial Day and My Dad
Monday, May 29, 2023
Memorial Day
Today is Memorial Day, a time we stop to remember those who sacrificed their lives to defend the freedoms we enjoy. It is a day to ponder the significance of their sacrifices and to appreciate the cost of agency.
For those of us who were born into a situation where freedoms are abundant, it is easy to take daily occurrences for granted. We speak our minds—expressing beliefs, disappointments, doubts, support, ideas—without threat of imprisonment. We make religious decisions—denominations, way of worshiping, prayers, religious observances, beliefs—without limited or forced options. We pursue career goals—public, private, and home schooling; college education; degree options; job interviews—without being placed on an assigned career track. We move at will—from town to town, state to state, county, city, apartment, mobile home, house—void of mandatory living assignments. We have nearly unlimited choices because of the brave, noble individuals who sacrificed to defend our rights to freedom.
This Memorial Day, pay respects to the fallen soldiers, the heroes and protectors of our valuable freedoms. Take some time to ponder what life would be like without the agency we take for granted, and be grateful you can exercise that agency without dire sacrifices yourself.
Monday, May 29, 2017
Remembering Our Honored Soldiers
My grandfather, my father, and my husband served in the army at different times, under different circumstances. Included here are pictures of their days in service.
Monday, May 30, 2016
Do More than Just Remember
Monday, May 26, 2014
Some Say Freedom...
My Father: Vietnam War |
Some say freedom is a gift placed in our hands by our forefathers.
Some say freedom is a human right that none should be denied.
Some say freedom is a privilege that can and will be seized if taken for granted.
Some say freedom is the key that opens doors otherwise meant to imprison.
Some say freedom is power to do, to be, to say, and to accomplish what the oppressed cannot.
Some say freedom is a responsibility—a weight to be carried and shared by those willing to protect it.
Perhaps freedom is all these things.
But in my eyes, I see freedom as a treasure.
It is a gem so rare and precious the fiercest battles rage over it. The blood of thousands is spilled for it—past, present, and future. Where true and unblemished freedom exists, it shines with perfect clarity, drawing the greedy masses, both those who desire a portion of the spoils and those who would rob the possessor of the treasure, hoping to bury it away.
Without freedom I am a slave in shackles on a ship lost at sea.
With freedom I am a captain; I am a pirate; I am an admiral; I am a scout; I am the eagle souring overhead; I am the north star guiding a crew; I am the ship itself; I am whatever I choose to be.