Ah, Memorial Day Week-End! The official start of summer. Winter must go, spring must arrive and let the fun times roll. School’s out! Wonder who’s happier-the student or the teacher? Little League has begun. Swimming lessons and just splashing in the water in general. Fishing, camping, vacationing are all “a-happening.” Do you have your family and friends coming over? Hmm, what time???? Everyone’s having picnics, cook-outs, maybe going to a parade and just good ol’ family get-together’s. SUMMER CARE-FREE DAYS HAVE COMMENCED!

However, Memorial Day is also a time of thought, prayer and reflection. Loved ones who are no longer with us. Spending a few moments decorating the graves of our family members we miss. Sharing stories and memories of great times from the past. We laugh so hard tears flow and cry so hard that laughter appears. Mixed bag of emotions. Every year, Deb and I venture to our old stomping grounds in Chelsea, spending the afternoon and early evening telling and re-telling our memories year after year. We visit both St. Joseph’s and Rector Cemetery, sharing thoughts and memories of Tony & Sue and Paul & Ella as well as our other relatives. Then we walk around both cemeteries reminiscing about many of those Chelsea Characters of times past. Oh the stories we share! We did that again last Sunday, driving around town and simply being reminded of a simpler time and place; a time when all the stores were closed on Sundays, everyone went to Church and we not only knew all our neighbors but knew the parents and grandparents as well. It often seemed generations of families back in the “good old days” lived in the same house.

All the farmers around the town were just nice quaint family farms. Everyone out in the country had a 180 acre farm, couple of old tractors and some other machinery, and plenty of hogs, cattle and chickens. Yep, everyone had chickens and they truly “ruled the roost”, running around everywhere. And pets…..my goodness, kitty’s galore and always a couple of barking dogs. On Wednesday evenings, the little town of Chelsea was a-buzzing because it was “BAND CONCERT” night. The old guys brushed off their tubas, sax’s, trumpets and drums and blared some good old Bohemie music for a couple of hours. And the musicians usually had some, ah, liquid refreshment to help them blare out those “hard-to-reach” notes. They even thought they got better as the night went on!!

Yes, Memorial Day for me is a time to just look back and reflect. It’s a day to think of the men and women who gave their lives in the Armed Forces so that we can live in “the land of the free.” Memorial Day is that one day of the year, (is that too much to ask?), when we honor those who fought and died. It’s a day to think like an American, to be proud to be an American, to put aside political differences and thank our Creator that we were fortunate to be born IN THE GREATES COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.

It’s a day to look at our flag and to be reminded that despite all of our flaws, trials and troubles this Nation has had over the years and to let the words of Lee Greenwood ring in our spirits, “…I will gladly stand up and defend her today. God bless the U.S. A.” It’s a day to remind each one of us that we are proud to be an American, to stand and honor our military heroes, (the Veteran), and to never ever take for granted the freedoms we have and cherish today. And every single time we see the United States Flag, we should consider how blest we truly are.

One final note…take about 45 minutes out of your day next Monday and attend one of our many Memorial Day Services. Our Veteran put much work and time into the service our way of saying thanks would be to attend and applaud them as loud as we can. See you then!! That’s The Way I See It. Let me know how you see it at jsheda@indytel.com or call me at 319.327.4640. May God bless each and every Veteran!!!