‘Decoration Day’, my mother called it. She had been taught of it as a child, a teaching I do not recall being passed to me. It was only a holiday for much of my life. Then came the years I began to understand, but still thought it meant all veterans. It doesn’t. It honors those who died in service to their country, and it began in the U.S. after the Civil War. I’m grateful that today I more understand the sacrifices. I think the understanding gives me more respect for life.

This Memorial Day I will take time to honor. Because of many who have given their lives, I live in my precious cottage home, can worship as I wish, have an untold abundance.