A Memorial Day Done Right

Usually Memorial Day consists of having bbq’s with my friends and family, with little connection to the actual meaning of this holiday. However, this year was surprisingly different, because on Saturday my grandparents came over for lunch and my grandpa started talking about his father, who passed away in November and was a WW2 veteran. I always knew that my great-grandpa fought in WW2, but I never really thought about him in that way. The conversations that spurred during lunch that day really made me feel like I was truly celebrating Memorial Day because after all, this is the true definition of this holiday: to remember people that fought to make the world a safer place. It made me feel so proud that I have someone in my family who risked so much for the safety of the world.
On Monday I went to a bbq at my friend’s house, which was really nice because all my friends were home from college and things just felt like old times. We had fun, laughed a lot, and looked back on our high school years. In the midst of all of this I began to think of my friend Alex, who after graduation high school joined the Air Force. I started to think back to his excitement about joining the Air Force and how good that made him feel. Also, I remember asking him if he was scarred, and he never even had the slightest trace of fear. Therefore, at that time I could not help but feel extremely guilty, because here I am having an amazing time with my friends in suburban paradise, and he is oversees fighting to make the world a better place. Since he is a grade older than me, I have not seen him since the end of junior year, but I will never forget him because he is the true definition of a hero. He sacrificed going to college and hanging out with his friends to join something greater. Therefore, whether remembering my great-grandpa or Alex, I felt like I was celebrating this holiday correctly for once.