Be Free
It’s Memorial Day in the United States. Aside from picnics and a day off from work, we take the time to remember those who died serving this country. Sometimes we remember loved ones who have served, and sometimes we remember the sacrifices of many, many people whom we will never know. Not unlike us, many veterans suffered trauma while serving, and they carry it with them as PTSD. A meme on Facebook says, “The truth is that all veterans pay with their lives. Some pay all at once while others pay over a lifetime. ~ JmStorm.”
Memorial Day is about remembering, about history, about sacrifice, about not forgetting in the hustle and bustle of life. To those who have lost loved ones to the ravages of war, I share my condolences. I’m sorry for your loss.
I dare say the therapeutic work most of you do warrants a memorial day of its own. Dredging through your own unique histories, reconnecting with what was forgotten, and owning the sacrifices you’ve made just to stay alive is payment over a lifetime. You are veterans of your own personal wars, and you deserve to be remembered, even as you’re climbing out of the trenches and creating a violence-free zone.
The upside of Memorial Day is the freedom, however flawed, that the sacrifice of veterans provides. You, too, have the freedom to make choices that ensure your life will never repeat the past. You've remembered too much to ever let that happen.
Freedom is always flawed, but it’s also real. You are real, you are here, you are alive. You can hold steady, turn it around, or change course. You’ve sacrificed enough, now you can claim the freedom that’s your due.
Be well, be real, be free.
Happy Memorial Day!
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Freedom is what we do with what is done to us.
~ Jean-Paul Sartre
Lyn