Memorial Day

When I was a kid, I didn't grasp the significance of Memorial Day. For me, it was a day off school that signified that summer was just around the corner...and usually meant a trip to the beach followed by my first sunburn of the season. As I got older, I learned that Memorial Day was to honor the brave men and women who have served our country and paid the ultimate sacrifice, but until Justin deployed the first time, these were just names and faces with no personal significance to my life. On the day Justin deployed for the first time, a couple of the other ladies were talking and wondering which of the guys that they had hung out with and been around at parties wouldn't be coming home and hoping desperately that it wouldn't be their loved ones. Justin lost people he knew during all of his deployments. During this deployment, Justin came close to being one of those that gave all - instead, he just gave his legs. A big sacrifice, but I'm thankful to be celebrating his "alive day" in just a few weeks rather than visiting his grave on Memorial Day. Please remember the families of those who gave their lives - for the ones lost during a recent deployment, their pain is still fresh, for others the pain is dulled, but there will always be a hole that their loved one used to fill.

The widow of a soldier from Ft. Stewart with her husband's (Sgt. Stefen Smith) remains. Freedom is not free.