Rememberance

Memorial Day isn't just a calendar square.

It isn’t just the smell of charcoal smoke and summer’s first heat.

It is a debt that can never be paid back,

only paid forward.

When you look at the stars tonight,

know that they shine because someone stood between us and the dark.

When you speak your mind,

know that your voice is the harvest of a seed they planted in the mud,

in the cold, in the far-away uncertainty.

So don’t just remember their names.

Remember their light.

Carry it into the boardroom, the classroom, the voting booth, the home.

Live a life that says, “I am worth the sacrifice.”

Live a life so brave, so kind, so free,

that when they look back from the silence,

they know—

they know it was worth it.

They gave us the morning.

The least we can do…

is to make sure we don’t waste the day.