Sacrifice
I missed Memorial Day because the pool didn’t get resurfaced in time. Isn’t that what the brave men who stormed the beaches of Normandy sacrificed for? So I could have a pool party? I think not.
The men that heard the whistles of bullets passing by their heads and were rocked by explosions all around them, watched their friends and comrades fall in front, beside and behind them, only to continue to charge up that beach and eventually up seemingly unscalable cliffs, did these things so that you and I could enjoy freedom.
You see, when a maniacal despotic Tyrant begins invading countries and exterminating a race of people simply because of their natural born heritage and religion, they must be stopped. In order to stop them, a price must be paid, hence the Thomas Jefferson quote, “The tree of liberty, must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants”.
It’s a simple phrase but an accurate one. Somewhere in the world, there will always be arguments and strife, there will always be someone that wants what we have, freedom. It is our job as everyday run of the mill, happy patriots to protect those freedoms that have been bestowed upon us with the fierceness and aggression of a mother bear.
The world seemingly went nuts these past few years with looting, rioting, bigotry and hatred at the core of all of it. I don’t care what your religious beliefs are, who you marry or what outfit you put on, I really don’t care. I only care when you try to force me like what you like or tolerate what you tolerate. That’s when you begin to encroach on my freedoms which becomes an issue for me.
I don’t believe in violence and always seek a peaceful path to any sticky resolution but when you come for my kids or my family and you want us to accept some of the craziness in the world, “or else”, you are poking the bear.
We can never repay the debt that so many patriots have paid on our behalf, from the Revolutionary War, the Civil War and World War I & II but we can say thank you each year at this time. So many of those patriots remain buried on hallowed foreign soil. They never got to have a pool party, hug their parents, attend a child’s wedding or hoist a grand-baby up into their loving arms, all because they chose to give me and you the freedoms we have today. That’s a helluva sacrifice, and for that I am eternally grateful.
I hope you all had a Happy Memorial Day and took the time to give thanks and hug the ones you love. I know I did, with or without the pool.