Memorial Day, 2007

So many people have died. The older I get the longer the list.

I lost an uncle in World War II. I am named for him.

A number of young men in my neighborhood died in VietNam.

My granparents are dead. My parents are dead.

I've buried more than one best friend.

Almost everyone I knew in 1976 is dead.

I don't know anyone who has died in Iraq. But I do have one friend there about whom I worry. I pray that he comes home safely. I don't want to remember him on Memorial Day. I want to have burgers and soda with him at his father's home, on a hot Summer day next year, around the pool, laughing and telling stories.

I ran a search of the word "memory" against my digital music library. These were the results:

Memory Of A Free Festival Part 1 - David Bowie
Memory Of A Free Festival Part 2 - David Bowie
Painted From A Memory - Elvis Costello & Burt Bacharach
The Memory Of Trees - Enya
Through The Memory Of My Mind - Freda Payne
Time, Motion, And Memory - John Young
Memory Of A Free Festival - David Bowie
You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory - Johnny Thunders
Ain't Your Memory Got No Pride At All - Ray Charles
Memory Motel - Rolling Stones
You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory - Ronnie Spector
Set Adrift On Memory Bliss - Backstreet Boys
Thanks For The Memory - Sarah Vaughan
No Memory Stone - Temple Pilots
Only A Memory - Smithereens
The Sun Machine (Memory Of A Free Festival) - Mercury Rev

Sixteen songs (out of 17,764) is not very many. Do people not write songs with the word "memory" in the title?

Irrespective of that, I have many memories. I am grateful for them all.

Just before Veterans Day 2003, I posted on the internet that it was OK to thank a serviceman or -woman. I wrote:

Tuesday is Veteran's Day. Irrespective of your position on war and peace, please be sure to thank a veteran for risking everything to keep us safe. Some people who are veterans had no choice. Some of them became heroes they never wanted to be. It's OK to say thank you. Are you grateful that people have gone to war to defend freedom? Are you angry when people are sent to war for profiteering, without really protecting our freedom?

I think of that statement each Memorial Day and Veterans Day.

Have you thanked a veteran or serviceman recently?

Remember: they work hard to keep us safe, they risk everything . . . everything (no matter what you think of the war).

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