Meaningful reminders...

I definitely need them, probably more than I'd like to admit. Please let Memorial Day affect you. I understand that it has affected every single one of us. It should.

Lincoln understood:

"But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here....  we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain - that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."

- Abraham Lincoln (excerpt from the Gettysburg Address, November 19th, 1863)

A plaque outside the cemetery in Iwo Jima simply reads:

When you go home

Tell them of us and say

For your tomorrow

We gave our today.

The author of those words understood.

Like so many holidays and traditions, Memorial Day can be just another long weekend. Good opportunity for a barbecue, cleaning out the garage/basement, perfect weekend for a soccer tournament...

But what's the point? Memorial Day. Is it meaningful? The real question is: "How will you make it meaningful?"

Meaningful doesn't require complexity. We've all lost family members to wars. I lost an uncle in Vietnam and a great uncle in WWII. I never met either and certainly never even heard of many other ancestors whose lives were lost in war. On Memorial Day, I could tell a few stories about these family members or discuss the experience of my father - while only in his early 20's - losing his brother. I could talk about my grandmother watching her brother go off to war and what it might have been like to get the letter that he was lost in battle somewhere near Berlin in the final days of fighting. I could talk with the family members who remember them or visit their grave sites. I could watch a relevant film with my family. I could visit a place where sacrifice should be remembered (Gettysburg, Antietam, Lexington, Concord, Yorktown, Normandy, or any of the thousands of options). I could talk with people who are currently serving in the military or their family members. Every single neighbor, friend, family member has stories like mine. I could ask. And listen. And reflect.

Remember. Memorialize. Make it meaningful.

Thank you for all those who have sacrificed - have paid such a dear price - for liberty and justice.

How could you make this Memorial Day meaningful? How will you?

     ~ Jonathan Fanning