05/27/2026
Memorial Weekend
Memorial Day Weekend has now come and gone. I debated with myself for days before the weekend about what I would post. Should I have a sale? Many retailers do. Should I wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend? Should I remind my readers and followers that the primary purpose of this holiday weekend is remembrance?
Here are my final thoughts. I hope that I am able to adequately portray what is in my mind and in my heart. By the way, these thoughts are not all mine alone, but were (and are) shared and collaborated with a close friend over the long weekend.
1. First of all, Memorial Day is about remembering those who have fallen - the beloved family members who never made it back home. It is a special day designed specifically to honor them, to miss them, and to grieve. I don’t have any close family members to grieve. But I do have both close and casual friends who have lost siblings, I do know mothers and fathers of those same friends who are near and dear to my heart, I have acquaintances and customers, all of whom grieve on Memorial Day. I like to believe that there are also elements of Pride and Honor mixed in with the other emotions of those who remember their lost loved ones. I hope that everybody who is now back at work doesn’t just talk about the cookout or the day at the lake this past weekend- I hope that honor, respect, and memories are mentioned as well - in fact, those things should be mentioned first, in my opinion.
2. Memorial Day is not a political holiday. I don’t care whether you were opposed to or in favor of whatever the US Military was doing when our soldiers fell. What is most important is that soldiers fell. They died. Families that you know and love lost sons, daughters, fathers, uncles, and other relatives while those soldiers were serving in the Armed Forces of the United States of America. Memorial Day is to honor them, but it is also to share love and compassion with every person still here who suffered a loss. I sincerely hope that none of you who read my posts were callous or foolish enough to “talk politics” within earshot of anybody who suffered a loss. If you did, then shame on you!!! I hope that my message pierces your heart, you realize your mistake, and you handle yourself properly the next time around!
3. Again, this is not a political message. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the military actions taken by OUR country, the United States of America, in any particular war, conflict, or skirmish; the fact is that patriots have shed their blood for the freedoms that we all enjoy - this goes all the way back to our nation’s War of Independence.
4. Holiday weekends often give us a chance to relax, recuperate, and enjoy time with friends and family. I hope that you were able to do some of that this past weekend - I was! I worked on Saturday and Monday, but for a few glorious hours on Sunday afternoon, I was blessed with the opportunity to be with a close friend out on a lake in a boat with the sun shining down on me. We both had a great time! That said, we did not forget the reason for the “holiday weekend”. We both were thinking of those who had sacrificed for us. There was nothing we could do for those already gone except honor and remember them, but we did the next best thing that my buddy could conceive. After we had successfully loaded the boat back on the trailer and were headed home to reunite and spend time with our families and loved ones, my buddy said, “One more thing, Trev. On the way home, we have to stop at the closest VFW.” So we did. We weren’t there very long, and it was Memorial Day, not Veteran’s Day, but my buddy wanted to do something to honor, to thank, and to show respect for anybody we could find who served in our military and helped to provide us with the opportunity to be on that boat, on that lake, enjoying the sunshine on our faces, picking out shapes in the clouds, relaxing, and thanking God for the freedoms and privileges that we enjoy. I was in complete agreement. So we did: we stopped. We chatted. We thanked. We honored. We both wished that we could thank those who gave all. We wished that we could be with each and every family who suffered a loss. Since we couldn’t, we did the next best thing we could.
5. The only other thing that we could think to do was to WRITE this message to say “thank you” to those we miss and those whose memories we honor. And we want to share this sentiment with each surviving family member, “We love you, we miss them with you, we wish they were here. But we also share with you a fierce pride and will always remember them and hold them in high esteem for as long as we live! We will never take our freedoms or privileges for granted. And we will never forget the sacrifices they made or the losses you endured because of their courage! God bless you, and God bless America!” -Trev and KP
