In the process of sending a snapchat on Saturday morning, I noticed a filter which boasted the 3-day weekend that many of us enjoy as a result of Memorial Day.

Monday will be filled with movie-goers, beach bums, and backyard barbecues to enjoy the day off. Lots of beer will be flowing, sunscreen being applied, and grumbling that happens after both of those things when you’ve had too much of one and not enough of the other.

Those troops, veterans, reservists, and guardsmen who are still stateside will also be enjoying this brief time off, the difference is what this day represents has a very different meaning to them.

Often on Memorial Day, many people get caught up in the festivities that come with being out of work/school without giving pause to the very reason we have the ability to do that.

On this particular Monday, it is about those service members we have lost in the line of duty.

People often say freedom isn’t free, and that most assuredly is the case. Blood has been shed since the creation of our country to enshrine the most fundamental pillar of our nation and to protect it at all costs.

Our country is not clean of abusive military actions, but the men and women who have served our country are those who have dedicated their life to the concepts that we as a greater community have agreed are worth dying for. These men and women who have voluntarily sacrificed everything to protect our country are what Memorial Day remains to be about.

Memorial Day is a day of remembrance for the countless lives that have been lost over the 240 years of our existence; to take a breath and think about the people in our own families that served, the friends from school who took their oath, and the people who we have buried to protect our country.

So, on Monday be sure you give just a second of your day to think of the new recruit in the Navy traveling to boot camp that same day, think about the sergeant stationed overseas right now guarding the fence line of whatever base they may be at, and think about the various officers who are having to make decisions many of us could never dream of having to make.

Let’s be proud of the commitment these people have made and remember the cost of the holiday.

Memorial Day is about remembrance.

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