remember

I don’t consider myself an incredible poet, but I wanted to have something to pay honor today to those who have given their lives for our freedom. Thank you to every service man and woman who gave your all so that I and my family might live in the freedom for which you fought so hard to obtain, and thank you to your families who have had to say the hard goodbyes. We are forever grateful, and we will never forget…

Young men with hopes and dreams

Old men with wives and little sunbeams

All head to war. To serve their land.

To fight for their freedom. To save their fellow man.

They fought hard. They fought brave.

Some were wounded, captured, never saved.

We will not forget them. We will not close the door.

They gave us our freedom. We owe them so much more.

Their graves are marked with flags so bright.

Their memories held tight within our sight.

They gave the ultimate sacrifice. They paid the highest price.

Gave they their life that I might live. Reminds me of my God, my Christ.

Let us not be so busy that we pack their memories away.

Let us not be so focused on now that we miss their pathway.

This is Memorial Day. The day we honor, we remember, and we say, Thank you.

We will remember the heroes, for our lives are here because of what they went through.

We promise to never forget what you gave up.

What we have to offer can never really be enough.

We will forever say Thank You to our heroes.

We will fight to remember, hoping our debt and gratitude eternally shows.

They fought hard. They fought brave.

Some were wounded, captured, never saved.

We will not forget them. We will not close the door.

They gave us our freedom. We owe them so much more.

Penned – MG – 5/23/15

I watched as my 12 year old walked into school the first day of seventh grade. He had on his favorite shoes, his uniform shorts and shirt; his laptop strapped across his back, and his wheeled backpack handle tight within his grasp. As I looked on, I saw a young man entering that building full of confidence and dreams. I realized in that moment, I could have just as easily have been watching him board an international airline destined for the other side of the world.

He is growing up so very fast. The past two years have seemed quite like a whirlwind…maybe more accurately, a hurricane. Don’t misunderstand these have been wonderful years full of fun, wonder, excitement, adventures, questions, dreams and, yes, maybe a few tears…of course, those have probably been more from my eyes than anyone else’s! Yet, it still feels like a hurricane when I think of how fast the time has gone by. Our years with him are so very short! They just seem to slip by, as if each one is a tiny grain of sand, sliding through my fingertips, and we don’t ever get those years back. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever, and we’re simply left with the cherished memories we made or the aching regret of what has vanished.

So, I will continue to treasure the minutes I have with him. I will open my eyes to see the valiant man he is becoming and remember the boyhood hero he once was. I will open my ears to hear the heart of a dreamer with goals and visions of tomorrow, and I will reminisce of the childhood imaginations that brought him here. I will release him to live, to dream, to become as I clutch tightly the memoirs of the little boy who came to be.

One day soon, he will fly far, far away……I pray he will remember to look back and wave……my heart aches…