Memorial Day has always been an awesome day.  I mean, who doesn’t love a day off of work and having a BBQ by the pool?  I know that I have enjoyed and reaped the benefits of this holiday for many years now, and I am thankful.

As I sat in Arlington Cemetery for the first time last year (and on Memorial weekend) I began to feel overwhelmed and thankful in a whole new way.  A cemetery is just a cemetery, until you start to really take in that each of those headstones is someone.  Someone who left a family behind.  Someone who may have left a child behind. Seeing a widow who is my age weeping, or seeing a 6 year old put flowers on his father’s grave, while his mother clutches his hand, brings a whole new meaning to memorial Day.

So thank you to all who serve for our country.  For having the courage I don’t have.  For making the kind sacrifices few people even know you make.  And thank you to all you families who have lost someone at war. Your sacrifice and loss is something that words of thanks could never be enough for.

To Everyone: Happy Memorial Day!