Chappy’s On Eagle’s Wings
Memorial Day!
by Ron Ringo
During this month we take time to reflect and give Honor to those who have gone before us. We give them a special day called “Memorial Day”. Many of you have childhood memories, as I do, of going as a family to the cemetery each Memorial Day to visit the site where my great-grandparents were buried. It almost felt like Easter. We would all dress up in our nice clothes and take a picnic lunch. We kids would be told or reminded of who was buried there and how important they were to our life. Then, the parents would edge the overgrown grass around the markers and we would play up and down the hill.
We came to know that these people we had never met had played a vital role in our family. For some reason however, as we became teenagers and life got busier, our family would go only every few years and then stopped going all together. Why do we allow the worldly rat race to interfere with a family tradition and what is most important? Maybe this hasn’t happened in your family yet. Great, maybe these few words will help you not allow it to.
A writing I came across, reminds us that all memories may not always have been especially good ones, but become special nonetheless. Maybe you have some thoughts similar to these in this story. (With all that is going on in the economy today, some of us may relate to this story even more…)
“I grew up in the fifties with a practical parent -- a mother, God love her, who washed aluminum foil after she cooked in it, then reused it. She was the original recycle queen, before they had a name for it... A father who was happier getting old shoes fixed than buying new ones. Their marriage was good, their dreams focused. Their best friends lived barely a wave away. I can see them now, Dad in trousers, tee shirt and a hat and Mom in a housedress, lawn mower in one hand, dishtowel in the other.
It was the time for fixing things -- a curtain rod, the kitchen radio, screen door, the oven door, and the hem in a dress. Things we keep. It was a way of life, and sometimes it made me crazy. All that re-fixing, reheating, renewing, I wanted just once to be wasteful. Waste meant affluence. Throwing things away meant you knew there'd always be more.
But then my mother died, and on that clear summer's night, in the warmth of the hospital room, I was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any 'more.'
Sometimes, what we care about most gets all used up and goes away...never to return.
So...while we have it...it's best we love it...and care for it...and fix it when it's broken...and heal it when it's sick. This is true...for marriage...and old cars...and children with bad report cards...and dogs with bad hips...and aging parents...and grandparents.
We keep them because they are worth it, because we are worth it. Some things we keep. Like a best friend that moved away -- or -- a classmate we grew up with. There are just some things that make life important, like people we know who are special...and so, we keep them close!”
We can get so caught up with day-to-day life that we forget to “keep” those ties with family and old friends. Many is the mother who longs for a phone call from her son or daughter, be they 20 or 60—whose heart is lifted to the heavens when she hears them ask, “How are you doing, mom?” For those away from home and possibly somewhat estranged from loved ones, this could be a door opener to reestablishing the relationship that is obviously still somewhat on your mind. (Because you are thinking of that person now).
It may be a parent, a brother, or sister; it may that friend you hung out with during school. It just might be someone you want to check on and see how they are doing; a former teacher who made a difference in your life, a coach, or the old man you talked to on the graveyard shift at one of your first jobs. All who are growing older, as we are, and may wish to know if they helped create lasting memories or made a difference in your life. I think we all would want to know if we had.
If this hadn’t been part of your family tradition maybe you might want to start one of honoring those who are a part of you and contributed to who you are. We are given this day of Memorial Day to jar our memories, but it can be any and all days. Start by keeping a record, a journal, a photo album, etc… Go to the family reunions, high school reunions and for those who go to war together, unit reunions. Maybe we are the ones who start them up. We can always start from where we are and appreciate what and who is in our life today. A poem, by an unknown author, sharing this message is called,
“The Old Family Album.”
The old family album, the pages are worn,
From turning and browsing they are tattered and torn,
For memories are sweet ones, we like to repeat ones,
We live them again in the old family album.
Now picture the family, we’re all having fun,
We’re in this together—parents, daughters, and sons,
For pictures are share times, those family affair times,
We live them again in the old family album.
The camera is snapping while the gifts we’re unwrapping,
The lens is recording our group as we’re boarding,
The shutter is clicking while baby is kicking,
And all to record in the old family album.
So stand all together, remember to smile,
We’ll all be recorded in family group style,
The camera is ready now everyone steady,
And we’ll be a page in the old family album.
Memorial Day is a time to remember the joys of life. For most, it is the time spent with family and dear friends. “Good friends are like stars...You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.” May we take and make the time to create those special moments that others and we can look back on with fondness, is my prayer this week. God Bless!!
As always, it is my hope that this message will help you this week to, “mount up as on eagle’s wings”, and renew a little of your strength to keep moving forward and find joy…(Isaiah 40:31)
Until next time, may God bless you and may God continue to bless our great nation… SEMPER FI
Chaplain Ringo, is the Command Chaplain at MCRD H&S BN, holds a Doctorate of Philosophy in Counseling, and is a Certified Trauma Specialist.
Chaplain Ringo is a good friend and supporter of HealthWalk’s. We are grateful that he is working with us on our integrated total health approach to enhancing and restoring our veterans’ resilience for re-engagement and for their transition from the high operational tempo back to their families and civilian life.