A Memorial Day Apology

In case you missed it, yesterday was Memorial Day. If you're like most of us, you probably behaved as if the three-day weekend was simply a celebration of the unofficial start of summer. I know that's what I did. I spent the whole glorious weekend with family and friends, eating, drinking, laughing, and playing. I don't recall any of us mentioning the significance of the holiday, or pausing to give thanks and remember. But like I said, our actions, or lack thereof, reflected those of the majority of Americans.

I didn't give this "oversight" much consideration until lounging by the community pool yesterday. Our club offers Memorial Day festivities for the children, including a hat parade (which usually draws about two kids), water balloon toss, hula hoop contest, etc. Before kicking off the games, however, the pool manager started the afternoon by playing a recording of some classic rendition of "God Bless America." And do you know how the few hundred of us in attendance responded? We didn't. Rob took off his baseball hat, which was more than others did, but beyond that, nothing else changed. No one stood up. No one got out of the pool. No one stopped chatting, eating, or yelling at their kids. No one solemnly considered what it was we were commemorating. But actually, I'm wrong. At the beginning of the song, I did notice one little boy standing by the pool with his hand over his heart. But when I looked for him a couple minutes into it, he was gone. Probably felt foolish being the only one standing there "pledging allegiance."

For the record, I'm not one whom you will find chanting "USA is #1" at a rally or even at the killing of Osama Bin Laden. I'm not a proponent of "Might makes right," and I don't believe we should be the world's policeman. I do wish the military would have to hold a bake sale to purchase their next fighter jet and that our schools would have everything they need to educate tomorrow's leaders. And I would never be so naive as to believe America is always in the right and never commits atrocities like other countries. I do, however, believe without a shadow of a doubt, that our freedom and way of life has been bought with the lives of the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice. And I believe they deserve more than a BBQ in which we celebrate having a day off rather than celebrating everything they gave for this country.

With that in mind I am committing to making future Memorial Days memorable for the right reasons. Here are a few ideas I found online to help us involve our children in celebrating the true purpose of this holiday:

• Participate in Memorial Day activities in your community.
• Teach your children how to display a flag with respect and dignity. Learn how to handle a flag when you raise and lower it.
• Encourage your children to talk with a veteran. Take the opportunity to speak with a relative or friend who has served in the armed forces and find out what it meant to them.
• Organize a trip to a nursing home to honor the older veterans.
• Have children make thank you cards for veterans they know or get in touch with the Veteran's Administration for information on how to contact local veterans.
  
• Visit a local cemetery to place flags and flowers on the graves of veterans.
• Visit the White House Commission on Remembrance website to find out ways to join the rest of the country at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to share a moment of remembrance together.

(Read more: "How to Teach Children About Memorial Day" | eHow.com)

For all who gave so much, I'm sorry for offering so little in return. We can't say "thank you" often enough.

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Encourage your children to talk with a veteran. Take the opportunity to speak with a relative or friend who has served in the armed forces and find out what it meant to them. Organize a trip to a nursing home to honor the older veterans. Have children make thank you cards for veterans they know or get in touch with the Veteran's Administration for information on how to contact local veterans. Visit a local cemetery to place flags and flowers on the graves of veterans.

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Teach your children the Pledge of Allegiance, patriotic songs and poems. Visit the White House Commission on Remembrance website to find out ways to join the rest of the country at 3 p.m., local time, on Memorial Day to share a moment of remembrance together. Have your children choose their own special way to spend their moment of remembrance, such as ringing a bell, a moment of silence or a moment in prayer.

Read more: How to Teach Children About Memorial Day | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2123481_teach-children-memorial-day.html#ixzz1NvyXV8NB