Memorial Day 2013

I know, the blog has been neglected for some time now...my major excuse is that our house got hit by lightening and burned to the ground...but only the first part of that is the truth.  Our house, or somewhere very near our house, got hit by lightening and the it took out 2 tvs, the desk top computer and the under-the-ground dog fence.  All, but the desk top, have been replaced...but the desk top is where I did 99% of my blogging because it's just easier there...but I've also fallen in deep love with Instagram & I've taken to posting there much more frequently...follow me at tarammcarty1978

Back to the topic...Memorial Day

This weekend I've had long days filled with the laughter of children and time spent with some of my closest friends.  I'm finishing this weekend feeling blessed and thankful for all the fun times and looking forward to a really fun Summer 2013 since Memorial Day Weekend is the unofficial start to Summer...







But over the last two days I've been thinking about what Memorial Day is OFFICIALLY all about...remembering our fallen veterans.  This year I have just felt sad...we, myself included, have made this weekend all about a enjoy a long weekend with friends & family and looking forward to summer and hopefully relaxing somewhere in the water...whether it's fresh water at the lake or salt water at the ocean.  It becomes easy to forget the men and women who gave the ultimate price for our freedom...and that's something I'm not sure we all really understand.  Would I lay down my life for my babies...absolutely.  Would I lay down my life for a stranger living in the middle of no where USA...probably not.  And I'm sure most reading these words would feel the same way.  But every service man and woman is willing to lay down their life for me whether they know me or not...and thankfully, they aren't the first to feel that way.

We live in a time where it's very easy to publicly criticize anyone who doesn't have beliefs matching our own...but if you are criticizing our military, do you realize you're tearing down the same person who is protecting your right to be critical in the first place?  We don't fight wars on our own soil or in our own backyards...and that's because of our presence abroad...I'm not sure what I would do if I could see or hear fighting from my back porch...think about that the next time you hear someone speaking poorly of our military.

I don't have a friend or family member who has lost their life serving our country...but one of my best friends did.  Amanda, my friend, met Nic and her husband Doug while living in Columbus, GA.  Doug was sent to Iraq and Nic and their young son were living in Germany while Doug was serving our country.  Two weeks prior to finishing his deployment he lost his life in the line of duty.  While I don't know what it's like to have a member of my family killed in the line of duty, I do know very well what it feels to bury a family member many, many years too early.  As I think about Nic and her son this weekend I keep finding it hard to enjoy the good times I'm having knowing she and her family are only being reminded of what they've lost.  Amanda's husband posted today on Facebook about this not being a Happy Memorial Day...he's right, this day isn't about being happy...it's about being grateful...grateful for our family, grateful for our freedom and most importantly, grateful for the men and women who have fought and died protecting that freedom.



(Doug is in the yellow shirt)

Freedom isn't free...it's come at a very high cost and a cost most of us will never understand.  So, tonight when you said a blessing before eating your hamburger or hotdog...I hope you said a prayer for those defending our freedom and those who are remembering the loved ones they lost or for the ones that are fighting to keep wars off of our soil.