Memorial: Anything Meant to Help People to Remember a Person or Event

Webster's Dictionary defines the noun "memorial" as anything meant to help people to remember a person or event.

We have all attended memorial services for someone who has died, whether that someone is a family member, friend, neighbor, family member of a friend, or even a pet or a jack-o-lantern than has fallen from the porch (or been nudged over the edge by an older brother).  It is a time when we come together and share one another's sorrow and lift one another's spirits with stories and anecdotes about the departed's lifetime with us and pay tribute to the deceased.

Memorial Day is a time that we also come together, but how often do we remember the reason that we Americans set the day aside?  How often do we take even a moment to honor the memory of those who have given so much of themselves for our freedom and liberty that we are so fortunate to enjoy in these United States?  Do we pause for just a minute to salute our flag and cherish what it stands for?  Do we thank a soldier or veteran when we meet one?  Do we give a thought to those men and women who fight for us right this very moment so that we are able to come together in freedom?

This Memorial Day, let us enjoy our freedoms by coming together and doing something to help us to remember those exceptional men and women who have sacrificed so much for us.  Were it not for them, we might not have the opportunity to come together at all.  Let us raise a glass to their honor, say a prayer for their safety, and shout a loud thank you for their selflessness.

Happy Memorial Day!