Memorial Day...........

Memorial Day.

A day to remember.
But the question has become...remember what?

Remember to grab the lifejackets on your way to the lake?
Or remember to stop for flowers on your way to the cemetery.

Remember to get charcoal for the grill?
Or remember to lower your flag to half-mast.

Remember that you signed up to bring the potato salad?
Or remember those who gave their lives so you can live yours.

It used to be that Memorial Day was just that...a memorial day.
A day to remember those thousands who have died in service to our country.
There were parades and ceremonies and speeches.

Now, it's a three-day weekend, kids-out-of-school, let's-go-to-the-lake, I-wonder-why-that-person-is-flying-their-flag-today holiday.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all about three-day weekends. I miss the go-to-the-lake days of my youth. I love a good barbecue, and having the kids out of school for an extra day.

But let's at least take a moment. Sit down with the kids and remind them why they have this day off. Why some people are flying their flags. Why there is still a parade or two. Why those old men at the park are wearing their ill-fitting, out-of-date uniforms and looking at the flag with a tear in their eye.

Let's at least drive past the cemetery on the way to the lake and look at the rows and rows of white tombstones...each with a small flag waving in the breeze.

Let's talk to our kids about sacrifice, and duty, and love of country, and loss of life. Let's plant the seed of patriotism in their hearts so they can pass the legacy on to their children. Remind them why their grandfathers went to war. And their great-grandfathers, too. Why young men and women are still going to war today. And dying today.

Teach them to respect those who serve. Teach them to remember those they never knew. And if you want to make it more personal.....just read about Donn Sweet. And let Donn, as one man, represent the thousands who performed similar acts of heroism.

And then.......go have fun at the lake!