Memorial Day...

Here in this country found upon freedoms not extended to all of humanity throughout the world, I find myself contemplating the sacrifices made so many in order that we can enjoy the right to bitch that President Obama decided to take his lovely, young family home to Chicago for the weekend, leaving the laying of the wreath at Arlington to Vice President Biden.

I confess myself to be very much disturbed by the tenor of the comments following the article. President Obama *should* be laying that wreath on Memorial Day. He *should* be doing something about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and *shouldn't* be allowing the oil to spread. He doesn't clearly have the same values *we* have. God, give me strength here. Where has the respect for the Office of President gone? Where has the respect for the man doing the job gone? Yeah, I know. I hear the chorus of "he needs to earn our respect" starting out there and all I have to say is this: here is a man who has taken on a job that 99% of us wouldn't take on for love, money or a lifetime supply of chocolate. That right there makes him worthy of my respect, because yanno what? There is no way in heckadoodle I'd trade places with him. Are you kidding? Not in a million years.

I'm a mother, which means I carry your typical load of mother's guilt with me every day---are my kids the best students they can be? Am I teaching them the values and morals they need as a solid foundation for the rest of their lives? Do they have clean underwear and enough food daily? Am I meeting their emotional needs? Do I show them enough every day the tremendous love I have for them? When the day is done, did I yell too much? Did I miss the mark on disciplining for undesirable behavior? Did I give them the attention they need and deserve? Was I the best mother I could be today, and if not, let's haul out the scoreboard and worry about it until the oblivion of sleep overwhelms me. Sure. I need to take on more responsibility and guilt here---bad enough I have to shoulder it for the Acts of God that happen to my family, I'd be insane from carrying a national load of same. Bald, too, because I'd be yanking my hair out as the bad news keeps rolling in, like a relentless tide. Given the mess Mr. Obama inherited upon assuming the presidency, I'm willing to give him time to clean up the mess--because this mess wasn't made in just one day, one week, one month or even one year. No. The majority of the mess he's dealing with took 2 terms to create, and add to that the Acts of God and natural disasters and warmongering that just keep coming. And coming. That relentless tide again. We wonder why bad stuff keeps happening to us, on a personal level and on a familial level--why does "it" always happen to me/us? The car breaks down. The kids get the swine flu. Uncle Fred needs a quadruple by-pass. Grandpa can't remember who you are, not to mention he can't remember who HE is half the time. Imagine being the President and dealing with garbage like that on a national level. There's a hole opening up in the ozone. Must be the President's fault. An earthquake just separated California from the rest of the country. Let's blame the President. Littering along the highways and freeways must be his fault too. Unstable political regions around the world clearly must be the President's fault as well, and sure, it would be nice to pull out of these regions and bring our soldiers home. Absolutely, I agree, bring them home, they shouldn't have been sent there in the first place and clearly it's Mr. Obama's fault that we can't extract ourselves from a situation he is not personally responsible for creating in the first place. There's an energy shortage. Yep. You guessed it. It's the President's fault. If only he'd turned off the light in the bathroom 2 seconds earlier. Our children are growing up stupid, in comparison with the rest of the world. Let's blame the President.

Even God took a day off after He created the world.

This Memorial Day, I'd urge all those unhappy folks vociferously airing their opinions about what the President *should* be doing, how he's "failing" at doing it to remember that those we honor for their service tomorrow are the ones who stood up for our right to bitch about the President (among many, many other things). Let's remember what Memorial Day is about: the veterans. To that end, I'm sharing a little something I received in my email, not once, but twice. I wish I knew to whom it should be attributed, as it's a heart-grabbing sentiment.



It is the
VETERAN,
not the preacher,
who has given us freedom of religion.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the poet,
who has given us freedom of speech.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the campus organizer,
who has given us freedom to assemble.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the lawyer,
who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is
the VETERAN,
not the politician,
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the
VETERAN who
salutes the Flag,

It is
the
VETERAN
who serves
under the Flag.




In the midst of the barbecuing and family gathers, take a moment to remember why we observe Memorial Day, and if you get the chance, thank a veteran. Thank those still serving, and those about to be shipped off to serve and serve again.


(Honor the Brave vintage postcard came from this site. All other clipart in the post came from this site.)


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