Never Forget

If you are like a large percentage of Americans, your Memorial Day weekend likely involves a grill, adult beverages, and a cluster of friends or family or both.  This is important because sharing good times with those we love is what makes life fun.

If you are like a smaller percentage of Americans, your weekend also includes a visit to a cemetery where you pay respects to loved ones who have passed.  

This is important because it’s respectful to remember those who came before us.

As a kid, I remember making those trips to the cemetery.  We made a day of it.  After chores were done in the morning and we all got cleaned up, Mom would cut some irises from her flower beds, and we would head out to the Oronoco cemetery where my mom’s dad, Emil Prokasky, was buried.  From there, we would head to Grandview Cemetery on Marion Road in Rochester where my dad’s parents were buried.  They, and now my dad, are in the section right along Marion Road by the praying hands monument.  Further into the cemetery to the south and west, there are a half a dozen or so of my dad’s aunts and uncles.  I remember searching that section with dad when we were kids and finding all of them, almost like a treasure hunt.  

Captain and I tried to find them again one year when we stopped to visit Dad, and I couldn’t find a one of them. I know darn good and well they are there, but I couldn’t find them.  I’m sure Aunt Donna or Aunt Linda knows where they are.  I should have them meet me there sometime and show me again.

If you are like a smaller yet percentage of Americans, you visit the cemetery during the Memorial Day services that honor our fallen soldiers.

In Brogan World, we combine these things and do a picnic at his mom's after we do the cemetery services. First we go to St. Michael’s cemetery where we pay our respects to Captain’s brother, Pat, who was killed in a farm accident in 1984, and Captain’s dad, Jim, who drowned on a fishing trip to Canada in 2007. After that, we go to Evergreen cemetery in Mantorville where we pay respect to our niece, Angie, and to Leah's dad, Max, who are buried there.  

The whole cemetery service thing was a new experience for me when I got married.  I didn’t even know they did this sort of thing at cemeteries.  We haven’t missed one in 28 years, and it gets me right in the heart every time.  The VFW representatives honor the fallen veterans, then the auxiliary ladies honor their members who have passed, and then a local priest or minister blesses those present and those passed.

Then it’s Taps and the 21-gun salute.  This is where I bawl every time.    

Because remembering our fallen military people isn’t just important.  It’s a duty.

Let me say that again.

It is our duty to respectfully remember those who have served because all gave some, but some gave all.

We all need to get down on our knees this weekend and thank God that we live in this country where there are good jobs that provide a federal holiday when you can gather with friends and family to celebrate and to remember the ones who are no longer here.  And while we are down on our knees, do not forget.  Do not EVER forget that we can do those things because there were young men and women throughout our history who answered the call of duty to serve and protect our freedoms.

God bless you.

God bless America

God bless our military personnel and keep them safe in their duty.

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