To Remember

On this Memorial Day and often, on the many days between these Days,
I think of them--
those who have died
in service to our nation.
~
I think of their lives
before that terrible morning,
afternoon,
or night came.
~
I wonder what their dreams and aspirations were;
the joys and challenges they experienced in their too short lifetimes;
fears they may have faced; their interests and accomplishments.
~
And I think of the families they left behind-
parents,
siblings,
spouses,
children,
aunts and uncles,
cousins
and friends.
I think of all of them too as I look at photographs of these young faces,
countenances forever captured in a moment of time-
symbolic of priceless lives frozen also in one minute,
never to grow any older.
~
And as I see their faces and hear their names,
I honor their sacrifice in service to America,
and fervently hope that this nation
and its people,
will never forget what they have lost.
For each and every life is a precious gift that is impossible to measure
by numbers or statistics.
~
In loving memory of one father who will never be forgotten by his only child
and her family,
~
Aimee