Yellerdog

Yesterday was Memorial Day here in the U.S. The holiday was first established to honor Union soldiers who perished in the Civil War, and has since been expanded to commemorate all who have perished while in military service to the United States.

I have always been a patriot, a lover of my country. I believe that the United States is unlike any other country, never having has a king, and having been founded as a place where government serves the people, not vice-versa. Is it perfect? No, but it is mine, and I will serve it as best I can.

Freedom is not free, and it is both precious and fragile. Many, many men and women have died to preserve, protect, and defend my right to live how I see fit. I can work at any job I can attain. I can travel without papers, anywhere in the country. I can spend my money as I like. I can vote how I like, or run for office myself. I and my wife can raise our daughter however we like. We can send her to any school our means allow and teach her anything we like.

In most of the world, for most of history, this has simply not been the case. A hudred years ago, in this country, women could not vote. Fifty years ago, practically speaking, blacks could not vote in large parts of the country.  If you fail to pay a fine in Switzerland today, the police show up on your doorstep in force. If you're female and don't wear a hdead scarf in much of the world, you risk stoning. And we've seen how China views dissent, as a threat to be crushed.

This Memorial Day was particularly poignant for me because we visted my father. He has been struggling with Parkinson's for three years now. Last month he fell ill and went into the hospital. He's now out, but is in a nursing home, and his return home will probably never happen - he can no longer care for himself and needs more care than my mother can provide.

Anyhow, Dad is a vet. He served five years in the Navy, inlcuding Operation Deep Freeze. He was one of the first men to winter over in Antarctica. Now he is frail. His speech is slurred, his vision is failing, and he needs help just to get up out of bed and into his wheelchair. When I think of him, one of the things I am reminded of is how each generation stands on the shoulders of their predecessors, and what our predecessors have handed down to us. We hacve freedom, and prosperity, and peace at home. These are things I want to pass on to my daughter and her generation, and her children as well. While I never served, I will do my best to impart those values to her and work through the political processes to make sure the America she inherits will be one where freedom is still a reality.