Let’s Not Just Give Thanks on Memorial Day

As wife to a farmer, I will be the first to admit, I often take for granted the blessings we have in our lives. Sometimes it is hard to remember those things during the late nights, the long days, and those times at which our relationship wears thin. Last weekend I went through a time where the entire week I could count the hours on one hand that I saw my husband. He was gone by the time I got up in the morning and he was home by the time I was fast asleep in bed. Our relationship relied on phone calls from the truck or tractor, random texts throughout the day, and the occasional hug or kiss I would get either before he got out of bed in the morning or when he got into bed in the evening. It sounds like a pretty rough existence for a newlywed couple, but truth be told. It could have been a lot worse.

He could have been thousands of miles away from me, he could have been risking his life for his country, he could have been unable to contact me on a DAILY basis… These are the struggles of women with husbands, boyfriends, and significant others serving or even women serving themselves go through. If anything, I am thankful to know my husband is safe at the end of the day, that he is alive and well, and that after the few months of farming, he will be home with me. Those are guarantees for the most part. I cannot even begin to imagine the pain and struggle families and couples experience when one of them is deployed. I cannot even imagine the strength it takes to endure that kind of long distance relationship. I cannot even imagine being a mother taken away from her young child to continue her service for our country.

As I scrolled through my Facebook feed preparing for the weekend, I saw image after image of people thanking and expressing gratitude for our veterans. It made me proud to know that even despite our differences, we can come together to support a group of people (and their families) who give their all for our freedoms. Freedom is something we take for granted in this country simply because we haven’t had to experience the hurt of war at our back door. Sure, we watched the war wage on in Iraq but it was so far removed from us. 

Some people in this world say that we are in a time when we have no heroes… The truth is we have heroes that live among us every single day. Those people who have chosen freedom and a love of their country above all else simply so that we can live free. We can live without fear, every single day. Visiting places like Cambodia really brought that home for me. The people of Cambodia experienced a mass genocide in the late 70’s that was conducted by it’s own government. In four years nearly 2 million people died. And today, the people in Cambodia are just happy to be free. To life without fear and to be alive. That is something that as a country, we don’t have to worry about thanks to the men and women who have served on behalf of our freedom. 

But these men and woman still alive today only add up only to a tiny fraction of the price that has been paid for our freedom throughout the years. So many other lives were lost in places far removed from us. Some families went without even knowing where their loved ones ended up. I cannot even imagine living through a time like World War II and this history of it intrigues me. To listen to the stories of those people who indeed lived through it… And those people get fewer and fewer every day. Telling the story of our troops is important. It’s a voice that I feel we don’t hear enough. And it is a responsibility as a country that we know the history, that we memorialize it, and that we continually share these stories. 

So I hope this weekend while you are out barbecuing and enjoying the Holiday with your family, you take some time to reflect on the reason for this Holiday. I hope maybe teach your kids something about our history and why we enjoy the freedoms we do in this country.  And that the next time you see a service man or woman, you simply take the time to thank them. You may think they get thanked a lot for their service, but the truth is many have personally admitted to me, they rarely get a “thank you” outside of a Holiday like Memorial Day or Veteran’s Day. 

A little bit of Thanks goes a long way. So thank you. To any and all of you who have served, who have fought on behalf of the freedoms I experience every single day. I am and will forever be proud to be an American. To know that generations of men and women have given up their lives in order to preserve the freedom in this country. And I will always hold a great respect, humility, and love in my heart for our troops. 

I will it end with the words of the great Ronald Reagan… this video gives me chills. 

Happy Memorial Day everyone!