It’s very cool this morning. The winds that have plagued us for the past weeks are gone and the air is still. There is a meadowlark hiding in the brush somewhere near my property. He is singing and the dogs don’t seem to be driven to find him and chase him away. My parents are buried in the National Cemetery in Santa Fe. My father died by his own hand when I was fourteen. Five years later, my mother died of cancer — and I was an orphan — with six little brother and sister orphans. My father was a veteran. He was in the Coast Guard, serving on the Border Patrol. He rode the barren land between Mexico and the United States on a horse named “Beans”. He was the only man my mother ever loved and it is right that they are buried together.
My dad’s service was not during an armed conflict, but he served his country. This morning, I am thinking that each of us should be serving in some way. Even as we remember and honor those that have died, we should be celebrating those that live and give of themselves.
This is a tiny sermon, but it is from my heart.
Amen! Very fitting for this memorial day. Thank you for sharing!
Very, very true. Thanks so much for sharing your story.
Beautifully written, Penni. Thank you for sharing your story, and for reminding us of all we have to be thankful for.
Wow. That’s a tough growing-up.
Agree so much that those of us who can (which is basically everyone!) need to be consciously working on making the world a better place.
Hear, hear Penni!
My father-in-law did not serve in the military either; he had one of those “necessary to the war effort” jobs where they would not let you enlist during WWII. But he worked as hard as he could, to support the military.
My dad saw action in the Pacific & was wounded. He felt that wound every day for the rest of his life. He was buried in the National Cemetery in Bushnell, Fla in 1997. It is a beautiful place.
I am so proud of both of them and all of those that served this country (past and present). Memorial Day is for them. Thank you seems so inadequate.
God bless them all.