This post was written 3 years ago for Memorial Day… I wanted to revisit it because I still feel the same… may God bless you all on this Memorial Day.
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A few years ago my very young 13 yr old cousin, Gaston, committed suicide. At his funeral I had the blessing of speaking to one of his friends and he said to me, “Gaston was my best friend. There was so much about him that I loved and now its gone.” I remember praying inside, “Lord, give me the words to speak,” and I’ll never forget what I said because I believe it is a truth that has remained with me on many other losses I’ve personally had to endure. I said, “Then you live in memory of him. Whatever it was that he taught you or that you loved about him that made you admire him then you carry on and do that for him in memory of him.”
This weekend, Memorial Day Weekend, is a hard one for me. It makes me think of my dear friend’s son, Lance Corporal Luke Yepsen, who died for our country in Iraq in December of 2006. I think about how his death brought us together and how our friendship formed after helping serve a dinner for her family during that time. She lives in memory of him, pushing herself beyond her limit of comfort and finding a way to enjoy living in this world the way he enjoyed life.
Yesterday (Sunday) was also the anniversary of Kate DiSorbo’s death. The young woman I’ve blogged about a few times. It was my last day as a full time youth minister for St. Martha’s and I had just closed up the family life center after hosting the graduation dinner for our seniors and their families. It was the end of her sophomore year so she wasn’t there. I was looking around the youth center for one last time feeling a bit melancholy, wishing leaving was not a decision I had to make but knowing it was what I needed to do and the phone rang. Car accident. Life over instantly. You couldn’t have pulled me away from working one more week…it wasn’t ‘work’ it was love. One year later I was in Australia for World Youth Day, a trip she would have been on with us, looking out over the beautiful landscape and I felt her with me LOUD (because she was my self-professed ‘megaphone’) and clear “This is amazing!” she said and I felt the enthusiasm she showed for life inside of me. She had no fear to push forward and do what she felt called to do, even at her young age I envied her ability to feel comfortable in her own skin. I vowed then to do my best to continue on in that regard in memory of her, which has led me to where I am today.
The more people who go before us the more positive traits we have to live on in memory for them. It’s almost like a spiritual totem pole…maybe if we keep taking on the positive traits of those we loved and lost eventually we’ll be the make up of the full body of Christ. 😉
Memorial day is ‘in memory of’ those who have fallen for our country for our freedom. It is not a day of sadness but rather of celebration. God bless all of the men and woman who put their life on the line so we can choose to live out our faith. May their guardian angels give them peace and comfort as they watch over them.
Thank YOU from the Deitz family!
Blessings
Shannon