Honoring Our Freedom Fighters

Here we are at another Memorial Day weekend. The day we remember the people who have fought and lost their lives to protect our freedoms here in America, as well as many other countries around the world.   

This Memorial Day will be different without the celebrations and barbecues that have become the norm, but maybe that will give us more time to take pause and reflect on the true meaning.

Freedom – hmmm

We haven’t had much of that lately, have we? For the last two months, we have had fewer liberties while struggling with a conflict not seen in our lifetime. 

The war we are fighting now is a different kind of battle. Is it fair to call it World War 3? Perhaps not, but it is global. There are many protests against the way we are fighting this battle, people are afraid to leave their homes due to a nuclear bomb called Covid-19, and it has become very political with different factions blaming the others. Not to mention, hundreds of thousands of innocent people are dying. Kind of sounds like a war, doesn’t it?  

As in most wars, people are coming together and helping the less fortunate. Citizens are making masks from home, and medical equipment is being produced in factories that were not made for that – just like in previous wars. During WWII, women and civilians worked in factories producing ammunition to fight and protect our soldiers and the civilians.  

These soldiers are different.

They are the nurses, doctors, healthcare workers, ambulance drivers, grocery clerks, caregivers, and other essential people working and braving the elements for our well-being. They tirelessly fight the unforeseen to protect our future so we can again enjoy the freedom of going to the supermarket, enjoying a meal at a restaurant, or simply going for a walk without wearing a mask.  

I choose to spend today, Sunday, thinking of those new soldiers on the front line. I will honor and mourn the people who passed in this latest war. All of whom gave their lives for us.  

In my mind, every person who died is a hero and deserving of being honored. It is because of their death that other lives were saved. Their unfortunate passing enlightened the rest of us to the severity of this damn disease. Otherwise, I fear nobody would have taken it as seriously as it needed to be. I walk through the cemetery weekly, and the number of open or newly dirt-covered graves with flowers sprinkled on top is palpable, and a sign of reality.

This country may not have shut down, and many other lives would have been lost if not for these folks who lost their lives. They died alone and valiantly, and in my book, that makes them a hero.

It all breaks my heart.

It’s hard to know how many front line or essential workers have died to protect, feed, or save us.  We may never know, but I salute you. For the dads, moms, husbands, wives, caregivers, daughters, and sons who are mourning; please realize they did not lose their lives in vain. I will think of you every Sunday during Memorial Day weekend moving forward. I will honor their lives by living a better life, a kinder one. It is my hope that this will be a new and different world. A place where we will never take our freedoms for granted again.

Monday, I will take a walk in the cemetery like I do every week. As I walk by, I will say my own silent prayers of thanks to the veterans who died in previous wars. Those freedoms that we are currently not experiencing came on the backs of each and every one of them, and I hope we appreciate them more moving forward – I know I will.

Thank you, God Bless America, and all of humanity.

Much Love Always,

Sandy

#enlighten #empower #inspire #educate #Bekind #thankyou