Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day 2011

It's painful sometimes for our family to get through these days. To remember the friends we have lost - those who gave their all so that my husband could come home. I am eternally grateful to them for their sacrifices.

I have cried and more funerals and memorial services than I would care to remember and this day always brings that back to the forefront of my mind...especially the last one. Holding my husband's hand while he stood on crutches in the front pew of the chapel for the man who literally took his place.

I celebrate his memory. I celebrate the gift he gave me in having a father for our infant son, a husband to love.

I celebrate the memory of the man who threw himself on a grenade for my grandfather in the Pacific during World War II so that I would have precious memories of an amazing man who taught me how to ride a bike and build a small engine block.

I celebrate their willingness and the willingness of millions of others to fulfill John 15:13 on a very intimate level. "Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. "