I guess I never really knew the difference between Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day. I knew that Memorial Day was the time of year that we usually brought the boat out the first time in the year. I also knew that it was usually a rainy, crappy weekend. I think out of the last 8 or 9 years, it’s rained on Memorial weekend 5 or 6. That left us with not wanting to take the boat out and not a whole lot else to do. With a husband that farms, he was usually busy if it was nice enough to take the boat out, and if it wasn’t nice enough, he was too busy to do it anyways.

As I get older, it makes me realize more of the things I should be grateful for. I’m grateful for the country we live in, though I worry about the people that are in the running to actually RUN the country. I don’t talk politics. I just don’t. I don’t like to ruffle feathers, and I don’t like the arguments (don’t ask my husband, because he’ll tell you I love to start arguments). I don’t like the time it takes from people to have to sit and listen to all the debates and see everyone’s stand points when WE KNOW that most if not a lot of the things they say they are going to do is just lies. They lie. They cheat. A lot of the times they aren’t honest people, but they are excellent speakers, and excellent and making people FEEL like they will do a great job. It just worries me. Not just for me, but for my children and what they will have to deal with when they are adults. Ok. Rant over.

I am grateful for the country we live in. I’m grateful for the freedoms we have. I’m grateful for those that we have lost while serving, and THAT is what Memorial Day is about. Every time I see this image, it tears at my heart strings.

Reflections by Lee Teter

I’ve never been over to Washington, D. C to see the Vietnam Memorial Wall. I’ve never gotten to see the Arlington cemetery. Though those places are all on my bucket list of MUST-SEE things, I can imagine the feelings that you get when you are there. I did get to see the Little Bighorn Cemetary in Montana one year, as we were riding our motorcycles through to Sturgis, but I feel like that doesn’t even compare.

When I do get to make it over there to see them, I feel like I will be overwhelmed, not only by all those sacrifices of those men and women, but also from their families. Their mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, who lost loved ones fighting for us. So we can be free. Fighting for those of us that can’t. Fighting for something they believed in. Maybe even for something they didn’t.

I have quite a few friends that have joined the armed forces. I know many that lost brothers (or sisters) while they were over there. I know it isn’t easy for them when they come home after some of the horrible things they have seen. Memorial Day is for those that we have lost in combat, but I think we should also remember those that we have lost BECAUSE of that combat. Those that come back an entirely different person because of what they did or witnessed. Those that couldn’t handle that pressure, that had nightmares of reliving that hell.  Those that took their own lives because they couldn’t handle real life once they got home. Some of them I think you could consider gone before they ever got home. But this post wasn’t supposed to be about that.

I’m grateful for their sacrifice. I’m grateful for their selflessness, and without them, our country wouldn’t be what is it today. We very likely wouldn’t have some of the freedoms we have today, and because of that, I thank them. To those that we’ve lost, those that we continue to lose, and those that will make that sacrifice in the future- Thank you. A million times- Thank you.