Remember

last 

Memorial

Day?

Unless

a death

was new

to you,

the beginning

of summer

on the

calendar

probably

felt

like any

other

last 

Monday

in May.

The peculiar,

yet familiar,

combination

of dignified

commemoration

alongside

barbecues,

movies,

and retail

sales,

the way

Americans

mark

occasions,

have a long

tradition.

But our

current 

condition

calls into 

question

this celebration

of summer

and sacrifice.

To honor

those

whose

service

was 

for us,

whether

we asked

for it

or not,

deserve

for us

to preserve

our democracy’s

promise.

Arlington

Cemetery,

where rows

of those

who perished

for this country,

is sacred.

It is

holy

ground,

where

history

is found

among

the graves

of the ones

who saved

us.

All those

wars-

what 

were they

for?

This can’t

be 

the last

Memorial

Day.