Memorial Day

Like many people today, I don't have to work. I'm procrastinating cleaning my house, so thought I'd get online first. I'd planned to write a little story here today about Chris and I stopping at Earl's Diner on the way home yesterday..... And then I read this on Rosie's blog, under the section where people can share soldier stories:

After 2 tours in Iraq he returned home with PTSS, he sought help in Texas still active duty, released from hospital after 6 hours. Committed suicide with wife 2 weeks later. Peace

That motivated me to write something about Memorial Day....and you can't do that without a picture of a flag. Figuring that most credible news agencies would have pictures of flags somewhere on their home pages today, I headed to CNN. There I noticed the 10 most popular stories on their website right now:

If anyone wonders what is wrong with our country, there is your proof. We can't even get 2 stories about soldiers to the top of the list on Memorial Day? It's MEMORIAL DAY! You know, the day we're supposed to REMEMBER the fallen soldiers who make it possible for us to have the day off, live in a free country, and do just about anything we want.

Frankly, it's disgusting on a level I don't even have words for.

Today I'll be thinking of my grandpa who fought in WW2. He was wounded when he took shrapnel in his bum and was in the hospital for a long time when he got home. He taught me about standing up for what I believe in, and I remember that lesson the most when I think of his Lemon Truck.

Grandpa bought a two-tone truck from a local dealer. For no reason, the paint started to rust and chip off. He went back to the dealer and asked them to fix the damage and put a new coat of paint on the truck. He didn't want a new truck, he liked the one he had, but he did feel he should get a new coat of paint. The dealer disagreed. My grandpa got upset.

Meanwhile, during the "standoff," my grandpa went about collecting plastic lemons from his favorite coffee shop. When he had enough to go around the entire bed of his truck, he mounted them there and proudly drove that truck all over. He told everyone he knew - and he knew just about the entire town because he and my gramma owned a local convenience store on Main Street for 20 years - and he even picked me up from school a few times in that truck.

He was "this close" to entering "The Lemon Truck" in one of our hometown summer parades when the dealer relented and finally painted the truck.

Grandpa is passed now, and so is my uncle who also fought in WW2. He was on the beach at Normandy and earned a Bronze Star for his service there.

These are my memories of soldiers. Hopefully you can find time today to think of a soldier and remember him or her proudly. More importantly, you should think of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan every day. We can bring them home where they belong if we do the right thing in November.

Happy Memorial Day. PEACE.