Memorial Day

These videos and songs do an excellent job of sharing my thoughts for this day.

Have a blessed and safe Memorial Day! Enjoy the day while remembering the reason we have it as a holiday. 

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day! I would like to thank all the members of the Armed Forces and their families for their service and sacrifice to our country. Without them, we would not be able to enjoy all the freedom we have in this country.


-Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Arlington National Cemetary

"For 141 years, Americans have paused on the last Monday of May to remember and honor those brave Americans who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to country. This tradition began on May 5, 1868 when the Grand Army of the Republic established Memorial Day as the national day to decorate the graves of the Civil War soldiers with flowers. General and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant presided over the first observance of Memorial Day at Arlington National Cemetery where over 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead had been laid to rest."
- Congressman Chet Edwards

In other news, it's a beautiful day today!! I worked this morning, which was really busy with all the customers who were OFF work today. Then I spent a glorious 1.45 hours at the pool reading my book, Mrs. Lincoln: A Life by Catherine Clinton. It's a really interesting look into the life of a woman who has been pretty much blasted by the press for so many years.



This book is part of a project I have for myself that started last year when I read the biography of Martha Washington. That was another fascinating look into an amazing woman's life, as well as into the background of her husband's life and presidency.



Anyway, my project is to read every single biography of the First Ladies that I can get my hands on. I did it once when I was in elementary school, but now I want to go back and read the adult versions. I am also pretty picky about my choices to read, so it's been interesting going to the libraries to find what I'm looking for.

Remember freedom is not free

I got this originally in an email, and I figured the best way was to just add it to the blog. Pass it around for Memorial Day, Flag Day, and July 4th.

I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG, OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND TO THE REPUBLIC, FOR WHICH IT STANDS, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL!



KEEP IT LIT!

For all of our military personnel, wherever they may be, please support all of the troops defending our Country.



And God Bless our military who are protecting our Country for our freedom. Thanks to them and their sacrifices, we can celebrate the 4th of July.




We must never forget who gets the credit for the freedoms we have, for which we should be eternally grateful..

I watched the flag
Pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.



A young Marine
Saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..


I looked at
Him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square
And eyes alert
He'd stand out in any crowd.



I thought how many men
Like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers' tears?



How many pilots' planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers' graves?
No, freedom isn't free

I heard the sound of Taps
One night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times

That Taps had meant 'Amen,'



When a flag had draped a
Coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.



I thought of all the Children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I
Thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea



Of unmarked graves in
Arlington.
No, freedom isn't free.



Enjoy Your Freedom & God Bless Our Troops

When You read this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our servicemen. Of all the gifts you could give a US soldier, prayer is the best one.