This week I will be writing thank you notes inspired by the solitude a pandemic brings.
Dear Soldier, Sailor, or Anyone Who Has Served Our Nation,
Today we remember those who lost their lives serving our country and so I wanted to write you a thank you note. It’s a tiny gesture when compared to the sacrifice you made for me and the generations before me and those to come. No parade, no flag display, and no wall of inscribed names can ever acknowledge the loss of you and your loved ones.
We commemorate you on a single day in May that most years gets lost in cookouts and parades. It takes a pandemic when we are at a minimum confined by social distancing, to force us to focus on what the day was intended to be. Hearing the staggering numbers of the lives lost to the Coronavirus makes us wonder how we ever became numb to legions lost to war and duty.
A single day can never be enough to acknowledge the loss of so many human lives. Those fallen are denied the fullness of a life the rest of us often take for granted. Their loved ones are not able to stuff their grief into one day in May each year. We only begin to understand the enormity of your sacrifice when witnessing the visceral expressions of sorrow of your families.
Gratefully,
C. Michele Dorsey