Freedom Is Not Free

 

As I sit typing this, I can hear the marching cadence rolling off the brick walls of the high school as the bands leave for the annual Memorial Day parade and services. For the first time in a long while, I am unable to attend, not because the weather is bad, it is a gorgeous day out, but because the pain in my body is at the scream level. So, rather than deplete my limited resources more, I opted to stay home and write.

With over 65 years of accumulated life experiences and wisdom, there is one thing I know, absolutely - Freedom isn't free.  In my family alone, there are hundreds of men and women who gave their time, their energy and their lives to allow us the freedom to have a day off. What saddens me is that too often the purpose of this day is forgotten in the opening of cottages, the barbecues, the beach parties.  In the last twenty-five years, I have seen fewer and fewer young people come to honor our fallen military members. But what is worse, fewer and fewer even know why the men and women of this country had their lives taken in fields, foxholes and jungles around the world.

Gratitude is a powerful tool in this life. When we are grateful, we are consciously recognizing something is valuable.  When we give gratitude for those who died in wars near and far, we are recognizing the value of their sacrifice. We are committing to memory their deeds and actions and, hopefully, realizing that we have a responsibility to stop hate, oppression and tyranny from taking hold in our world.

So, as I take my cup of tea and retire to the sanctity of my garden, I will offer prayers for our military. I will ask Spirit to open the minds and hearts of our leaders that they may see how precious the gift of our Constitution is and not let it be destroyed by those who only know greed, hate and avarice. I will pray for all those who are active in our military that they may be safe and that their families never know the pain of their deaths.  Finally, I will pray that all civilians in this country will understand that they have a responsibility to the freedom they enjoy, that they cannot be silent or apathetic. I pray they will realize as the sun shines on their picnics and family gatherings today, that they must vote, they must protest wrongs, they must petition for change while these freedoms still exist. This is what we owe the fallen of our armed forces. This is what we owe generations to come.