Leisure and Remembrance

by Julia Buckley

On this Memorial Day weekend, reflection seems to be in order, especially because the weather lends itself to some back yard resting. Lorraine Hansbury said, "Never be afraid to sit awhile and think," and I'm with her. I'm going to dare to sit and daydream and possibly eat some ice cream while I do it.

However, a part of the day's reflection always leads me to the reason for the day--the memorials that are in order for those who serve the country--enlisted people both living and dead.

I always like to ponder the words of Abraham Lincoln, whose graceful prose showed the proper respect for both the dignity of service and the pain of loss. In his second inaugural address (1865), he said:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation's wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan - to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations."

Happy Memorial Day to all veterans and their families, and to all American troops and the people who wait for them at home.