What is in a word?

Or two words?

For they are much on my mind today and will consume my memories all day tomorrow. May 26th, we will celebrate Memorial Day.
It was not always celebrated on the last Monday in May as you will learn if you follow the above link.
Somewhere along the way it devolved from a day to remember the sacrifices of those who died in the service of their country into a day to go to the lake, or the park. To eat BBQ and drink beer until we're not safe to be on the highways. Blame it on the federal employees unions. They are all about getting those long weekends off with pay for the holiday.

Today the wife and I journeyed down to Loganville to be with her sister and B-I-L, several friends from their work. One.....a Tet of '68 Marine Corp vet.....and I, intrepid boy sky commander, sat in the shade of the back porch and solved most if not all of the world's problems, while the rest frolicked in the pool or under the shade of the lawn furniture.

We sat isolated in our corner out of necessity........he because last year he lost a leg above the knee from a staph infection after a second knee replacement. I.....
.....well, I because even though his loss is not combat related, it didn't seem right to desert a fellow Vet, and while others will listen to us, Comrades in arms have a rapport that transcends time and branches of service.

Maybe it is because the shadows of fallen friends, and those we did not have the privilege of knowing their names, come calling.......wishing us well....grateful that we still have solid form, and voices to speak for the dead. Remembering their names or their passage through our lives.

Names like Carl, John Paul, 1lt Hunter, Shuhada, Pobre, Foy. A hundred others.
Places like Khe Shan, The Rockpile, Firebase Vandergrif, My Loc, Hue, DaNang, Marble Mountain........
Hundreds and thousand and tens of thousands in as many places. More recent places, as well as more distant. Fathers, Husbands, Wives, Daughters, Sons.......all, at one time, loved.....missed.....grieved for........Honored........

And our lives touched, even if we never knew them, in ways we can not fully express,
or even understand sometimes.

May you have a great Memorial Day.