This Memorial Day... Everlasting Gratitude

This Memorial Day, it feels like a lot of what we’ve treasured is now gone.

Did we appreciate it enough? Did we take too many of our blessings for granted?  Have we been living our lives immersed in a sense of entitlement?  What we had just a few short months ago seems of such high value compared to the losses, constraints and burdens of now.

We had the strongest labor market of our lifetimes, perhaps the best economy too. We’d been at peace for more than a decade. The world was producing fascinating wonders – self-driving cars, the total of all knowledge available at our fingertips, the ability to speak with anyone on the planet, anywhere, anytime.

We live in a time when every person who has ever lived before us would eagerly trade places in an instant. For many of them, our “now”  would seem like an incredible paradise.

Were we sufficiently grateful for it all?  Grateful at anything?

We can look back on January 2020 and wonder at the trivial things we let consume us. Why did we spend so much time grabbing after things that don't matter? Why were we so self-absorbed, taking our good fortune for granted?

And so, our Good Luck ran out.

This Memorial Day, a plague has killed more than 100,000 Americans and Canadians in just two months. The horrible tragedy has transformed us from fools into solemn, serious prisoners in our own homes, limited in time and travel to our local communities.

The superficial distractions and excesses of January have fallen away, and they’ve been replaced by stress and anxiety.  Family, faith, friends, all seem more meaningful now that what we sought after in excess, is out of reach, at least for now.

But still, this Memorial Day, let us be thankful. We have been taught a lesson of loss.  Loss of loved ones and friends to a disease that is writing a lasting chapter in the histories of humanity. Let us take from it a lesson in gratitude.

For what can you be thankful today?

The kids sleeping safely in bed. The internet working. Zoom calls with business colleagues and friends. The backyard grill and an extra tank of fuel. The beginning of summer.  The oceans are still where we last saw them… one west, one east.

Perhaps you can start with the smallest thing you have to be thankful for, and give thanks for them. And then the next smallest, and the next, and the next…

And maybe you can allow your entire day to fill with joy for the small things - the smell of a fresh mowed lawn, the twinkle in the eyes of your spouse, your kid being a buffoon, the sound of your parent’s voice – too distant over a video call but heard nonetheless – and the taste of the perfect grilled burger. And while you’re taking that forst bite of  the burger, eyes closed, face in the sun, beer at hand, you’ll remember the meaning of today…

This Memorial Day, we can feel gratitude for our veterans of a different war.  The war of NOW… the war to defeat the pandemic and defend those stricken.

Our armed forces take an oath to defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic. This Memorial Day of 2020, we must add to that Honor Roll those who defend us against enemies we can only see with a microscope.

We can be tremendously grateful to the nurses and doctors and hospital janitors and ER desk staff,  who have gone to war this very morning.  Suited up, ready for action on the front lines of this global war.

I can’t imagine the feeling or the fear they experienced in lacing their shoes this Memorial Day morning, knowing what they know about this killing disease. Seeing that their colleagues are dying, prevention is imperfect, and that every day, any day, may be the day their Good Luck runs out.

I can’t imagine any words to adequately describe that person who ties their shoes and stands up straight and walks out their front door and into a hospital to do their job on this Memorial Day. I can’t imagine any word other than HERO.  It’s probably the bravest thing we’ll see in our lifetimes.

This Memorial Day let’s make a promise to never take it all for granted ever again. Let’s get down on bended knee and make a promise to our future, the future of our children, everyone on this planet – this time, we promise life will be different. When our utopian lives return, and they will, we won’t squander our great gifts, we won’t fritter our talents and time on trivial things, things we really don’t need, we won’t pursue the meaningless amusements of our times past.

But, sadly, we’re human.  We forget.  When this has passed, we’ll most likely go right back to our foolishness, pettiness, and ingratitude.

But also, wonderfully, we’re human.  And we learn.  Maybe this time will be different.

Maybe this time we can be inspired by the nurses, and doctors, and janitors. By their heroism. By their duty. By their example of courage.

We can take from this Memorial Day a reminder that the great good fortune we have is due to the men and women who fought our wars over the past 250 years.  They too, got up in the morning and laced their boots to face an uncertain fate. They will always be our heroes.

Yes, thankfully, we are human. And we can learn from our heroes.

Your part in honoring them this Memorial Day – our duty to them this Memorial Day – is to be grateful for what they’ve won for us.  Remember the plague that surrounds us,  its isolation and its quarantine and the coming months and maybe years of lean following our years of plenty. Be grateful and surround yourself with all the love and family you can touch.

This Memorial Day will be special like no other has ever been.

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