Memorial Day... My thoughts for today...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyDboZZd6nY

So, most folks who have spent much time with me know that I am not usually the one to ask to sing the national anthem.  I would be too busy fighting the tears to get the notes right.  Remember that upbeat Brooks and Dunn song, Only In America?  The folks I used to train with in a gym back when Bailey was a baby used to put it on loud just to mess with me.  I am not usually an overly dramatic person, just for the really special moments in life, like watching Wyatt and those nice boys from Tierra Homesteaders pass through a record mark at the county fair auction this year, or feeling like we finally survived this year and Bailey still standing after the intense bullying from adults and youth alike.

But patriotic songs, they tug at my heartstrings. Big time.  All the time.

My husband is military, but that isn't where it began.  My Dad, and my husband's Dad, both served in the Navy in Vietnam.  But it is more than that.  My Grandfather and Great Uncle, they served.  My grandfather lied about his age to join the Army at the end of WW2, he ended up in the Army Air Corps, eventually the Air Force, serving in Korea.  If you look in the family archives, our family has served this nation in every generation since the War for Independence.

I had always been taught the reverence that stands due to the flag, what it means, and what the costs of our freedom entail.  I have walked the fields of Gettysburg, the old preserved battlefields of the Revolution, the Civil War, seen the bullets remaining at Pearl Harbor.  We were not taught to hate, as I hear them say some children are, but we were taught to believe and to stand.  I had grown up thinking I would fly fighter jets, and would be the one to defend our country, but in the end I am the one raising the children, while he does the military work, rarely anything that resembles the glory we think of in our youth.  Just the day to day.  And I do this in a time where women can serve, and we see the service of men, women, service animals, and the families back home.

We think about this at Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day.  And we try to live the thanks year round.  And sometimes these songs come out of the clear blue and remind us of how lucky we are, and all that we have, thanks to amazing people who did their job with valor and honor and strength, as we would hope we could do in their place, if called upon.  We run the flag up the mast, then lower it slowly for today, hand under hand, giving thanks along the way.  Hope you like the song.  Happy Memorial Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyDboZZd6nY