My bacon and blue cheese burgers sizzle on my Primo, ceramic grill as the lump charcoal glows with a strong, orange hew. Seared at first, the juices of the meat are locked in and continue to cook the burgers that are marinated in balsamic vinegar and pepper overnight. Flipped once, cheese added, and my Memorial Day grilling is almost complete.
Then it hits me.
“Is this really what the young boys signed up to protect – my freedom to grill hamburgers?” “Is this what the kids who, over the decades, gave their lives to acquire – my ‘space’ to do what I want, say what I want, and move freely as I want?”
It’s bigger than that.
Memorial day is not veterans day. While both are equally important, memorial day honors the ultimate sacrifice that men and women have offered – giving of one’s life in the betterment of the great experiment called the “United States of America.” An expensive trade – to secure and protect our freedoms, our liberties, of this great nation.
It is a day that doesn’t honor my budding expertise as a master griller, but the exceptional and ultimate offering of life that it took (and still takes) to keep America as The Stalwort of all that is good and healthy on this globe.
Woe to us who scoff at this day and its quest. Woe to us who barely remember the cost of freedom. Woe to us to take liberty as expected for on that day of frivolity will the day of our demise be at hand. We are the primary nation that holds the light of freedom to guide the world.
Burgers, done. Humility, heightened. My only sacrifice is a singe on my eyebrow from a careless flame. Perspective is everything.
Merry Memorial Day!
Peace!
Todd Stocker 