It’s a holiday weekend in the United States. Monday is Memorial Day which is when we honor the men and women that have died in military conflict. I am grateful for their sacrifices. When I was a kid we went to visit my Grandpap every Memorial Day. He felt very strongly that it was important for a family to get together, eat a hamburger, and remember. It was a significant holiday for him. I think it probably meant so much because he survived WW2 and could remember a lot of friends that didn’t survive. One year when we were visiting for Memorial Day, he declared that hamburgers would have to wait because he had to walk in a parade. He lived in a very small town and they were trying to include all of their local veterans for their first Memorial Day celebration. He spent some time rummaging through the back of a deep closet and emerged with his old army uniform. He tried real hard to squeeze into it despite the addition of 50 years and 60 lbs. We lined up along the single block of a street in the town and cheered wildly. He proudly marched and waved with the hat from his uniform perched way up on top of his head. This Memorial Day I will remember the shed blood that has made us who we are. I will remember my Grandpap walking in that parade with his tiny hat. I will remember to eat a hamburger. If you are alone on Memorial Day, I will be firing up the grill on Monday at 5:00.