Friday, June 8, 2012

Memories of Memorial Day

   As I mentioned in my last post, this spring/summer season has been pretty jam packed... with all kinds of things, but mostly with just being outside. Plain and simple outdoors. Or as Bastian says it "SIDE!!!!" When Memorial Day weekend rolled around and a barbeque was mentioned (as is generally the case) we couldn't pass up the opportunity to set up some water activities my the in-laws back yard and huddle around the youngest member of the family to see his reaction.

   Bastian has made it clear to us from early on that he loves water... his absolute favorite type of playtime is bath time... BUT he is not only very temperamental about the temperature of liquids in general, he is also pretty much a mini replica of his father in all ways, and unless it's 90° outside water activities are out of question for Daddy. It's "too cold". 'It' being the water. All that being said mini Jason proved to love the refreshing chill of streams spraying every which way out of the hopscotch/slip-n-slide hybrid we picked up at Target that afternoon. In fact every time we turned it off in response to what seemed like faded interest he came running back over desperate to get soaked again.This made for quite an exciting afternoon and a very tired kid at the end of the day, not to mention some pretty cool pictures.









   I have to say that the most amazing thing of all about this whole experience was the awe of knowing that someone.... actually many, many someones out there, a few that know me, most who don't, didn't and never will know me... put their lives on the line to defend these precious moments. To defend some unknown families right to gather in their backyard for a lighthearted afternoon of water sports and grilled steaks without fear that someone would come in and steal our land or food. Harm us, maybe even kill us because we don't share their political beliefs, or have the right eye color, or hair color... because we pray, or grow things in our yard that we can consume, or because the females in attendance were wearing shorts that showed our thighs... any number of other things that happen all over the world each and every day. Knowing that so many have died, to protect the way that we live.

   I may be late in saying this in terms of calendar holidays, but there is never, ever a bad time to spread a message of gratitude to those people who make the ultimate sacrifice. There is never a bad time to give thought to all of those military persons who take the biggest risks a person could take in order to provide just a little more security for the rest of us. So for the fact that I can live wherever I want without having to daily defend my living space, buy food from a grocery store and prepare it in my home rather than hunting for each meal hoping that I can fill my stomach from day to day, wear clothes based on what style suits me rather than on what is available and what will best shield me from the elements, have as many children as my husband and I choose, that I can read and write about any topic I take interest in. That I can hop in my car and drive down a street where I know that everybody is going to following roughly the same guidelines of driving, and go where I please without having to get permission... for all of the things that make my life what it is, the huge things and the small things. Thank you. Each and every last one of you.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...