Today was a hard but necessary day.
Today, we taught the girls about freedom.
Not in the “here’s an American Flag shirt,” or let’s all wear red, white and blue and pose for a picture way…
Not that there’s anything wrong with that approach or sentiment, it’s just that today is something more…
More than a three-day weekend.
More than the opening of “pool season.”
More than christening the boat at the lake.
All of those things are incredible freedoms we celebrate and often take for granted.
We live in a world of instant gratification.
Entitlement.
Complaining.
Comparing.
Wanting what we don’t have and unhappy with what we do have:
Our families.
Our jobs.
Our bodies.
Our bank accounts.
The ironic part: we live in a country that not only allows for our petty frustrations, but allows us the freedom and means to change every single one of them.
The girls learned about death today.
Sacrifice.
That our “freedom” is anything but “free.”
We talked about getting to dress the way we want.
The freedom to talk and be heard, whether a platform is warranted or earned….or not.
The freedom to build a life.
To build wealth.
The freedom to be anyone we want to be, regardless of where we come from.
To lose everything and still be more fortunate than the majority of the world.
And amazingly, the freedom to rebuild.
As we read the stones and markers, we talked about each War under each name: what it meant for this country… and still means.
And as we walked, we thanked each name we came to, and the girls gave thanks for something different each time… an item, a freedom, a choice, a lifestyle, an opportunity….
Kala shared stories of “Pepper,” her grandfather who served in the Navy during WWII and the man of integrity and virtue he was. She talked of his reasoning behind his tattoos: so that he could be identified.
As we walked, talked, and gave thanks, there was confusion.
This is a heavy conversation.
There were tears.
And then, as we continued our journey, there was an understanding…
Brave men and women willingly put themselves in dangerous situations to protect everything we have. And sometimes, they give their life for it…
For us.
As we left, having not made it through the ENTIRE cemetery, the girls rolled their windows down and repeated “thank you” over and over as we exited onto the main road.
Friends, I don’t claim to know much…. but I know this:
Entitlement cannot live where gratitude resides.
Regardless of how you feel…
You are owed nothing.
We are owed nothing.
We are entitled to nothing.
But because men and women sacrifice their own freedom and lives daily…….
We can have everything.
Happy Memorial Day.
—
Previously published on Facebook.
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