Remember

Today I look at this weekend as a good time to get some much needed "R & R," hang out by the pool with friends, no work - good times - Memorial Day Weekend! Over the years I have done many different things on Memorial Day weekend. I have spent time camping, I've been on the lake, or just went to Barbeques. No matter what the venue the weather has usually gotten just about right to have a great time with friends and family this time of year. However, while having all these memories of good times, I also remember going with my Grandmother and her brothers and sisters to all the cemeteries around Dawson Springs placing flowers and flags at the gravesites of loved ones…remembering. That memory reminds me of the real reason for this national holiday. To remember…


So today I pay my silent respect to those that have passed through this world and went on to the next. I am today thankful for the members of my family that served our great country in times of war and in times of peace. Not because they were asked to, but because it was the right thing to do. Today I think back on stories of World War I, World War II, and I think of the Civil War and the Revolution that created our remarkable country. As I think of all of these crises' I am reminded that it was not the President's or the Congress who presided over these wars that won them. It was the courageous and diligent men and women who fought in the fields and trenches. They are the arms of the body that won these battles. The son's of a million mothers, the subject of many silent prayers that brought us to where we stand today. I remember…

In air and on the seas, in the sands of the desert, in the wooded mountains and in the plains the men and women who served; and those veterans that have already served have given us a gift that we will be forever indebted to them for. Their efforts to preserve the freedom and liberty that we experience daily have made them the stewards of what the Pilgrims set sail to find - freedom.

Today I will think long on my Grandfather, Decola Franklin, who served in World War II on a Mine Sweep, in the South Pacific. I will be thankful for him and his service, not just today will I remember him but always - and we never met. I will also think of my Great Uncle Garland Witherspoon, who dug fox holes in the fields while serving in the Infantry for the United States Army, in that same war. I will remember him too so long as I live and during these years I will be thankful for his service. My Step-Grandfather Buddy Cato - I will think of him too. Buddy served on the Leary, a Battleship in the South Pacific during World War II as well. These are only a few of the men that I have been linked with that put themselves in harm's way to protect our covenant to something greater. These men are no longer around but they are remembered and memorialized here.

I am thankful that my Papaw, Edward E. Storms, is alive and well today. He served as a career soldier in the United State Army. He served in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and in times of peace as well, over a twenty five year span. I am thankful for him as well as my Great Uncle, Joe Russell, a veteran of the Korean War as well. Both men that I know and have known to be good family men that now remind me of what it is to live well and for the right causes. Both patriarchs of families that carry on in their paths. I am always thankful for them and I will always remember why. On this Memorial Day weekend I remember and I always will that what we hold dear has came at a great cost over the years.

Today not only the men and women of our Armed forces are remembered. It is also hard not to think of all those family members that no longer grace us with their presence. Those family members and friends that are no longer with us are remembered and missed in their own respect. These people are thought too and like our veterans and active service men and women it should not be only on these occasions that we bring light to their lives and their accomplishments. Today and always I will remember the great members of my family and the wonderful friends who have made the road I travel an easier path because of their influence and kindness. Today and always I remember them because they were worth being remembered. I will remember them because I loved them. I loved them then and love them still and I will continue to remember…

Note: Enjoy your Memorial Day weekend.
        All my best,
        Jonathon