Memorial Day

I never used to pay a lot of attention to Memorial Day, but then we moved here into a community and discovered that it has a real meaning. No, really, I'm not making that up. Before moving to Muskegon and walking the journey with the people of our church, Memorial Day met relatively little to me. I knew that it was a day when there were parades and, often, fireworks, but the significance eluded me.

Now, of course, I have a group of individuals who are helping sharpen my understanding of the significance of days of remembering. Yesterday in services we remembered over 60 individuals who either have or are serving our country in the armed forces. After that we paid tribute to another fourteen people from our congregation who have passed away in the past year.

It was a very emotional service for me this year. I suspect that seeing Aaron's picture up there had something to do with that. Knowing so many of the fourteen who passed away made things hit closer to home, too. I realized once again that I have now been here longer than I have ever been anywhere. I have lived in this house longer than I have lived in any house. I have known these people nearly as long as I have known anyone--the except to this would be the folks in New York--I lived there until I was 14, but we moved twice during that time. This is as close as I have ever come to having roots, and when there are roots I suspect that there is a greater potential for pain.

Yesterday, as I saw pictures, I thought of the lives represented there and all the ways my life is now connected here. We have been through a lot together--births and deaths, marriages and divorces, successes and failures--it's been an interesting journey. I am now a part of this community where we gather for parades and take off our hats when the flag passes by. I am part of a group that applauds our veterans and cheers on our bands. I am part of a group watching our children become teenagers and our teenagers become adults and our adults age.

Perhaps I can now begin to authentically commemorate Memorial Day by doing something other than just stuffing my face full of food from the grill.

I hope this was a good Memorial Day for you, too.