Memorial Day Tribute

I have so many reasons to love Memorial Day.  On a personal level, my son was born on this special day, so this time of year will always have significance for that reason alone, but long before I had children I loved the holiday.  First of all, the weather is usually pretty good at this time of year.  In fact, even during years when it's chilly, it still stands out on the calendar--and in my mind--as the unofficial start of the warm-weather season.  Memorial Day will forever be linked in my mind with flung-open windows, family picnics, parades and unfurling the flag on my front porch.

Yet as I get older (and hopefully wiser with the quickly passing years), I have become increasingly grateful for our troops.  Not that I was ungrateful in the past.  I like to think I always took at least a little time out of the long weekend to think about the sacrifices so many Americans have made so I can live in freedom in the most amazing country in the world--in the history of the world.  But the young, in general, tend to think in terms of minutes rather than years, and personal concerns often take precedence over preserving the time to honor the lasting legacy our selfless soldiers have provided us with.

It's a humbling experience, when you think about it.  I mean, really, what can I do to pay proper respect to our troops?  How do you thank those who gave their lives for you?  After pondering this question for quite a while, I decided what's best for me, and for each of us perhaps, is to share individual talents and interests with others in ways which honor the commitment of our soldiers.  So, I've planted a red, white, and blue theme in a section of my garden.  I started with the Pulmonaria, commonly known as Lung wort.  The polka-dotted foliage it sports all year is unique, but about a week or so before Memorial Day it puts forth a profusion of bright blue flowers.  Paired with the translucent beauty of the white Foam flower (Tiarella) to its left, and accented by the potted begonia, below (I think a red geranium would work here, too), the effect is pleasingly patriotic.

Each time I walk by this garden I am reminded in living color of all those who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of every one of us who is lucky enough to call The United States of America our home.