What did you do?

To commemorate Memorial Day? How did you remember the sacrifices of those who gave their lives for our freedom? We went to see Prince Caspian. We originally planned to do that tomorrow (Todd took it off), but realized that it might be easier done today. As we were pulling into the mall, I thought about it. I felt disappointed in myself for reducing the day to just another day off. My own father fought in Vietnam and later died from injuries sustained in the war. I want to remember. I want to teach my children to remember.

Regardless of how one feels about the conflicts our country has engaged in, we owe our freedom to men and women who were willing to die for it. After naps, we sat down with the kids and looked at some books that I bought recently (on a discount shelf at Border's). They offer the history of our various wars in pictures. We talked about what the soldiers would have been thinking or feeling and what life would have been like for them. We looked at the piles of causalities from the Civil War, and the men burying their dead the day after a battle. So, we remembered and stopped to appreciate the freedoms that we have.