If you want to skip ahead to read about the charity Still Here Lifestyle is contributing to that’s totally cool! Just scroll down to the dashed line and read from there. If you have a few extra minutes and also want to read a little about what Memorial Day means to me, then just keep on reading from here.
To a lot of people, Memorial Day is just a three day weekend. It’s an extra day to hang out at home, barbecue in the backyard, drink beers, and enjoy the start to what’s hopefully an awesome summer. And we should all do all of those things. We should take the day to spend time with family and friends, enjoy the sunshine, maybe put some miles on the bike. (Preferably before we start drinking beers)
But while we’re doing all of those things, it’s important to remember why we have the day off. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for all of the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.
Well that’s a lot of weight to put on a day. And it’s honestly hard to fathom the magnitude of what the day symbolizes. How many hundreds of thousands of people have died for our country? Even harder to grasp, how many people have lost a loved one? How many moms and dads have had to bury a child?
For me personally, it’s hard to wrap my head around the amount of sacrifice that’s gone on in our country’s history. So let me tell you what I do on Memorial Day, and maybe it’s something you can take on as well.
I narrow down the day to one person, one family. I think of the young man or woman that woke up thinking it was just another day doing what they love. Or maybe they woke up grumpy and wishing they had the day off. But no matter how they started their day, they didn’t expect it to be their last. That’s who I think about. The person that woke up, put on their uniform and prepared to have another day in what was supposed to be a long and happy life.
But it was their last day. Doesn’t matter to me what happened. Whether it was overseas on the battlefield, or back home training for the fight of the future. The person that I think about made the ultimate sacrifice for the rest of us.
I also think about their family. I think about the mom or dad or husband or wife that got the phone call they always feared more than anything. I think about how for the rest of their lives they now carry the weight of their loved one’s sacrifice. And I think about how on this day, that weight feels a little heavier.
When I shrink Memorial Day down to one person and one family, it hurts more. And it’s supposed to. It makes it more personal. It makes me think about what it would be like to wear their shoes, even if just for a day.
With all of that in mind, I take Memorial Day as a day where we can shoulder some of that weight that those families carry everyday. It’s on us to honor the fallen and their families by being good people! By loving our friends and families. By taking care of ourselves and our communities. By trying to contribute something positive to the world. By appreciating the freedoms that we live with everyday because someone else defended them. It’s on us to ensure that they didn’t die in vain.
We cant do anything to bring back the dead. But we can live a lifestyle that honors them. We can live our lives with them in our thoughts and in our hearts. After all, it’s thanks to them that we’re Still Here.
~SHL
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This Memorial Day, I want to contribute to a charity that sheds a lot of light on a family’s darkest moment. The charity is called The Wingman Foundation. In the aftermath of a military aviation mishap they step in and provide the necessary assistance to the affected service members and their families. And that sentence only scratches the surface of their impact.
For the rest of the month of May, I’ll be contributing 100% of every sale to The Wingman Foundation. I think it’s important, and I know first hand that it helps those that need it most.
And you don’t just have to buy stuff from me to contribute! You can head over to their website and donate on your own.
If you’d like to read more about The Wingman Foundation and what they do, please follow the link.