A Memorial Day Message and Thank You!

According to http://www.usmemorialday.org, "Memorial Day started off as a somber day of remembrance; a day when Americans went to cemeteries and placed flags or flowers on the graves of our war dead. It was a day to remember ancestors, family members, and loved ones who gave the ultimate sacrifice." Now it has changed into days on lakes, huge sales in malls, and whatever else our commercialized world can think of. However in my family, we keep the tradition and we spend the late morning into afternoon at the cemetery honoring all of the fallen heroes, including my grandfather, as well as the other loved ones we lost. We stand around telling stories and jokes from all of the amazing people who are no longer with us, while we wait for the band to come play. Then more importantly, we listen as the band plays the national anthem, the VFW and ladies auxiliary speak, and then tabs is played to conclude the memorial.

My amazing grandfather, James Madden, in uniform.

Today it was chilly and cloudy, but a wonderful chance to honor the people who have gone before us and given up so much for our freedom. I would like to take this chance to thank everyone who has served and all of their families. It is because of your bravery and sacrifice that I am able to write this blog and exercise all of my other freedoms. So thank you for keeping our country free and the way our founding fathers wanted it to be. I am so proud to be an American!