Just a Reminder to Remember

Memorial Day is not about gas-guzzling vacations, blow-out sales, or block-buster summer movie releases. Memorial Day was meant to be time set aside to honor the lives, service and sacrifice of the men and women in the armed services, of our loved ones gone on before us, of every one who came before and wove their thread into the tapestry of life, culture, and community that supports, nurtures and sustains each of us today. The same tapestry into which we are, moment by moment, weaving our own threads, co-creating with past and present threads the tapestry that will be ours and our children’s future. Memorial Day is a day for remembering that every thread, no matter its length, strength, color or place is essential to the whole.

Today I remember and honor my father, Richard Wayne Coon, whose life was the embodiment of love, generosity and service for his family, community, country and God. His thread began in 1931 and ended in 2005. It mattered to many.