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05/31/2004: "Memorial Day-The Cost of Freedom"

Today is a special day set aside to remember all of those who gave their lives to keep the rest of us safe. Over the years, this day has had different effects on me. In peacetime, it has meant beer, barbecue, friends and family together for an extra day off without a single thought as to the cost of that freedom. In wartime, it has meant beer, barbecue, friends and family together for an extra day off with a lot of thought as to the cost of that freedom.

As an American, I take my freedom for granted with a sense of entitlement by birth right. While I possess a fertile imagination, I really can't begin to comprehend how my life would have been different had there not been brave soldiers who believed that the freedom I take for granted was worth dying for to ensure it. While I may not be able to fully imagine my life without the freedoms I am granted as an American, their sacrifice helps me to understand just how precious it is.

Down the hall sleeping right now are two very precious extensions of my life, a beautiful and bright teenage girl and a handsome, energetic all American boy of seven, two of my grandchildren. I sit here in the dark wondering what they will see in their lifetime. Their great-grandparents grew up during WWII, their grandparents during Vietnam, and their parents grew up during relative peacetime when wars were “cold,” fought with words not bullets. We’ve gone from “black-out curtains” through “duck and cover” and now its “duct tape and plastic.”

Oddly, I think it was their peacetime parents that felt the most threatened by the fear of war when they were growing up. My mind wanders back to the eighties, when my children actually had nightmares about a nuclear war that would never happen. Maybe because they had yet to live through a war, that the threat was worse than reality, if you weren’t the ones doing the actual fighting. Previous generations had been inoculated by experience, the daily headlines, and the incessant evening news. Now a new generation is being inoculated. Their fear won’t be of the unknown but of the known.

I wish I had some words of wisdom to pass on to them about the world they face. It really hasn’t changed that much. There have always been bad people in the world to watch out for; there have always been good people to protect you. Put your faith in the good people and make sure you are one of them. Sleep tight kids, your world is as safe as it can be because there are those who understand the threat and value of your freedom enough to guarantee it.

So while we are enjoying "the land of the free" today we offer a most humble thank you to those who represent "the home of the brave" and who keep it that way. A very special thank you to all of those who had the courage, strength, and willingness to sacrifice their lives because they understood the very high cost of freedom.