We are more than grateful for the sacrifices made by countless numbers of men and women that have joined in the fight for freedom, that continues every day. There will never be any level of thank you that can be enough. May we honor each of these amazing sacrifices, by never taking freedom for granted. It will always go deeper than the freedom to watch tv, play a video game, go to a restaurant, fire up the BBQ and drink a cold beverage of our choosing. In fact, if we somehow are only just excited for a day off or the chance to eat a hamburger, than we are truly need to consider freedom at it's core.
Merriam Webster Dictionary puts it this way:
"1: the quality or state of being free: such as : the absence of necessity, coercion, or constraint in choice or action : liberation from slavery or restraint or from the power of another : independence: the quality or state of being exempt or released usually from something onerous freedom from cared : ease, facility spoke the language with freedom : the quality of being frank, open, or outspoken answered with freedom : boldness of conception or execution
2a : a political right : franchise, privilege"
The freedom we fight for every day is a right set in place from the beginning of time and therefore we will always long for it. We each have something today, that we truly need to be free from, but we must be willing to make the sacrifice to find that freedom. We must be willing to fight for it with all we have. We will need to climb those mountains and push through those deserts or simply allow others to come beside us and help us in this fight. This fight for freedom is real and we must not take it lightly. It may not be fair to compare our present struggle with one that involves the loss of life, but to us the struggle is real and we can have the strength and courage we need, today, to fight for this freedom we desire.
As we set aside a time to make a memorial that honors all who have made amazing levels of sacrifice, may we also find the ability to create a memorial to the battles we overcome today. May each day become a collection of battles won and give us a lifetime of memorial days.
