So Monday is Memorial day and that’s sweet because that means a 3 day weekend for most. And it’s also the day the pools officially open for the summer. Everyone has BBQs at their house and people like me get trashed. But what really, is this holiday about? Wikipedia says it’s supposed to be for mourning those who died while serving in the military. We should definitely have a holiday for this. But what about family members who served in the military but died later on? My uncle Scott was in the Navy for years, just like my Dad, Mom, Grandmother, and Grandfather. He died last year.
He didn’t die while serving his country but was always über-patriotic with American flags on his bandannas, his T-shirts, his motorcycle, you name it. But he went out in the yard last November and shot himself in the head. My family gathered the week before last Thanksgiving and we buried him at Quantico after a short funeral with all the proper military ceremony, including a drawn-out ritual of folding and unfolding an American flag.
Uncle Scott may not have died while in service, but he was a US sailor and served his country. He was proud to be an American. So, come Monday, I won’t just be drinking and hanging out by the pool with friends. I will actually stop and think about what the holiday means and what it now means to me.
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I will remember your uncle and my brother and all those who have served our country so that we could have our freedom, our rights and privileges right here! God bless them all.
That is an awfully sad story shen, but we have Veterans’ Day to remember those who served our country and did not die doing so.