Memorial Day!

Memorial Day weekend is probably no different in Fairview Beach, where I live, than any other part of the country...the official kickoff of summer. Only we live in a small (two hundred homes or so) "beach/water community" so it's like people are sitting with boats already attached to their cars, watching, waiting for the end of the grey, dismal and isolating cloud of winter to the bright, cheery and social sunny days of summer.

This Memorial Day was a little different for many of us though. An incredibly loved and well-known young man from our county lost his life this past year in Iraq. Sadly, just a few days before Christmas, as Job says in the bible "The thing we feared, came upon us" when one of ours was included in the 22 victims of the first suicide bomber to penetrate a US army base Mess Hall in Mosul, Iraq. Suddenly, the war was personal and what seemed like the entire county joined together over the next few days at prayer vigils and memorials for 20 year old Nicholas Mason.

So, before picking up all the trimmings for our own Memorial Day cookout, Julie (my daughter) and I paid our respects at the families memorial for their son carved out of a wooded lot on their property. A place where he loved to play now bears a headstone with a picture of Nick standing on the bumper of an army vehicle. His dad said he was singing something while behind him a cache of discovered weapons is being blown up. It's really an awesome picture. It was so hard to hold back the tears as we were warmly welcomed and thanked by Nicks mom & dad. I don't think any parent could not imagine themselves being in these shoes.

We went on to grab stuff for the traditional hot-dog and hamburger fest. OUr kids invited some friends over and it ocurred to me that two of the four young people who came to our house last night have been to Iraq, so it was hard to celebrate Memorial Day, without truly considering, probably for truly the first time, what this day was meant to be. As we laughed and enjoyed the conversation and stories, I couldn't help but think that we only have the freedom to celebrate because of the sacrifices of so many soldiers and their families in these relatively short hundreds of years.

It's hard not to feel helpless when you dwell on it too much. About a month ago, I stumbled on "www.soldiersangels.com" Guess I was looking for a way to support the troops and wound up "adopting" Rachel, a young female soldier stationed in Al Ramadi, Iraq. I was excited to get to know her and send her care packages, etc... but, admit to feeling a little tinge of panic or fear when she sent pictures of herself and her friends there with her. Laughing, joking around, celebrating a buddy's birthday, my God, they're just kids...you forget. Guess it's easier not to dwell on it or see these numbers on the ticker tape running across the screen on the news and not be moved. Her pictures definately make it more personal. She says she's probably going to be there til Christmas, I think. I pray she'll be going home safe.

Well, just wanted to share my thoughts on Memorial Day. And say "thank you" to Nick's parents. You gave it all! "Greater love has no one than this; that He lay down his life for his friends."