Memorial Day Weekend

For me the Memorial Day Weekend does not mean that much. I just remember the first time I was in the US for the memorial day. I was living in Detroit Lakes, a small town in north-west Minnesota, at the time doing an exchange year during my Junior year in high school. The year was 1998 and I was 18 years old.

I remember driving by a cemetery with my host dad (or American dad as I call him, he was actually the one walking me down the isle at my wedding so he is just not a 'host dad' to me) and I could see all these flags everywhere. I had gotten used to seeing the American flag on a daily basis but not like that! That was just crazy - it was beautiful in some way...

Today when I think about it I have more compassion... I realize that most of these people died young, in another country without their loved ones because they wanted to do something good for their country, or the world... It is hard to think that they will never be able to tell their story, the story beyond the media, the story beyond the war...

Bless those many lost souls...