When the late CBS correspondent Ed Bradley visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., he found a letter propped against the black wall. It read:
"I wanted to come back and say hello. You know, I went ahead and married Dick, and we have a beautiful litle girl. Her favorite color is purple, the color of this stationery.
I went to Arlington to see your grave, and on it, it said you got a Purple Heart for dying. Well, this is your purple heart for having lived. I hope our daughter finds as wonderful and as beautiful a first love as you were for me. Good-bye. Hello. Nancy"
That's a strong reminder that those we honor on Memorial Day are more than simple names. They were living people who loved and were loved... and are still loved.
Adapted from Homiletics
Memorial Day
Is it enough to think today of all our brave, then put away
The thought until a year has sped? Is this full honor for our dead?
Is it enough to sing a song, and deck a grave; and all year long
Forget the brave who died that we might keep our great land proud and free?
Full service needs a greater toll, that we who live give heart and soul
To keep the land they died to save, and be ourselves, in turn, the brave.
Annette Wynne
As the Memorial Day weekend passes, may it do so lovingly, slowly and safely for you and yours.
Quote: "He departed from our sight that we might return to our heart, and there find
Him. For He departed, and behold, He is here." St. Augustine