I Learned From You

Memorial Weekend is more meaningful this year for me. My brother-in-law died last week. He was a WWII veteran. So was my dad. So was my father-in-law. They are gone too. Soon no WWII veterans will be alive. Soon, there will be fewer of their widows to decorate the graves on "decoration day" too. If you go to a cemetery this weekend, you will see the widows. They open the car trunk and take out the red, white and blue flowers. Mostly the flowers are silk so they will last. They have other flowers in the trunk too. Gold ones for fall and yellow ones for summer. 

I remember looking at the photos of my dad in his Navy uniform. He was dashing, no doubt about it. I used one photo as reference for an art class assignment. It was a large pen and ink drawing. The black and white contrast of the white uniform against the foliage of Hawaii was perfect for the ink rendering.

I was fortunate to attend a performance of South Pacific, the musical, a few weeks ago. The timing, right before Memorial weekend, was coincidence. It made the event that much more memorable. The themes of discrimination, intolerance and defining freedom to still be around, long after WWII.

My dad and father-in-law and brother-in-law were part of the WWII fight for freedom. They thought freedom meant a man was free to work hard to support his family. And they did. They were all businessmen. They treated their customers honestly and with respect. They sincerely appreciated their customers and let them know it. They valued their work and the opportunity to do it. They were successful and the rewards were well-raised, happy families. Families who miss them terribly. 

I think some Americans view freedom as the right to do whatever they choose. Selfishness seems to be what they think freedom means. I hope on this Memorial weekend, some Americans remember that freedom and selfishness are not related. Freedom means responsibility. The veterans know that.