Memorial Day 2014

Since I have known Gary, I have been inspired every Memorial Day weekend.  I remember the first time he told me they used to take pictures at the cemetery.  I thought how morbid is that??  To me, {selfishly}, Memorial Day was a day off of school, a weekend where I always had a soccer tournament, and/or I had to play in the band at the VA.  I guess I never took the time to truly understand the meaning of the important holiday.

Now, I am proud to say that each Memorial Day weekend is a very important one in my family.  We do the typical cookout and family picnic, but we also visit the grave sites of family members who have served our country.  Stories are told of the history and fun facts about the family members.  The children place flags on our fallen family soldiers and flowers are placed on each grave.  The children look forward to the event.  They recognize the importance and love to hear about their "ancestors."

To finish the visit, the children all stand by the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  As they have become older, they now sing patriotic songs.  It is a proud moment for this mama.

http://youtu.be/1ubXMu9NLCM

http://youtu.be/y9R80uSReLk

I hope that each of you can take a moment each Nationalistic holiday to remember our fallen heroes and our heroes who continue to fight or who are now our honorable veterans.  We are so fortunate to live in a country where freedom is given to us.