“Pause and Remember”

We have had a lot of time to pause and remember lately. Well, maybe we have. Depends on your job. I have still been busy, and I am sure several others of you have been too, if not for your work, maybe teaching your kids or finding other ways to be productive during this time of physical distancing from each other.

During these days staying inside and apart from each other, have you thought about sacrifice? That is what Memorial Day is about, honoring those who have sacrificed to protect our country and its values.

My Dad was in the navy at the end of world war II. My oldest brother was in the navy too. My next brother was in the air force for a time. My uncles all served in World War II or Korea.

I have friends who served also. Most are very proud of that service. Fortunately, none of my family or friends, but one, were killed while serving. One friend from HS was killed in Vietnam.

But just because I have not experienced losing someone from war, I have lost someone I loved. I can honestly say I feel at least a bit of what those families felt and feel upon hearing about losing a father, brother, uncle, mother, sister, aunt, or partner because they choose to defend our country.

Let us take a minute to silently thank those from our families and friends who lost their lives for our safety.

And now, let us thank those who are serving now. And we will thank them again when Veterans Day comes around and every time we have the opportunity to thank our Service folks.
pause
These are different times we are going through now. Not many can say they have experienced a pandemic. I mean, who would have thought, we, the big United States losing tens of thousands of people in the year 2020 from a pandemic? And here we thought we were the greatest country in the world.
We better get our thinking hat on and pull on our work boots and get things to where they should be.
It’s time …“For everything there is a season, and
a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up
what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to
build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a
time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to
refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to
throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to
speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.”

Yes, it is time.

This year, even though they are not military, I believe it is a right and perfect time that we honor those first responders and hospital workers, those people working in the long term care facilities who are trying their best to take care of their patients. The police and ambulances personnel who respond to the calls for help, not knowing what they will find or if they will contract the disease.

We owe these people and so many more. As many of us were hunkered down in our homes, many were and are out there doing what needs to be done…working on the farms and in processing plants. Gathering our trash and delivering food. Peopling the check-out lines and stocking shelves.

We owe so much to so many because everything we have and know, comes from those before us. Even our ideas are built on the thoughts and creations of others.

As the song goes, we are standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.

God gives us the opportunity to receive and develop an idea, but someone in this dimension must bring it forth. The evolution of an idea can be followed through looking back, let us say, at a car. Look at how a car has evolved…ideas on top of ideas from the horseless carriage to today’s tesla.

The same goes with Memorial Day. It started out as Remembrance Day, back during the Civil War when the women started decorating graves of the fallen soldiers with flowers.

That was built upon with World War I and all those who fought and died were included. Eventually, all who died while serving were included in the remembrance and it became a National Holiday.

That is what is happening with the development of a vaccine. For once, people in many countries are working together, building upon what we know … who would have thought!

So, this year, I ask that when we honor those who have died serving our country in the military, let us also include those who have lost their lives trying to protect and serve our country, here at home, during the pandemic.
It seems the right thing to do.