I remember and I'm thankful

Today I remember those who lost their lives for our freedoms. I think of pausing, in grade school, for a moment of silence, to remember. Taps were played over the intercom, silence echoed through the halls of our old school and then the principal read, In Flanders Fields. We wore poppies for the week leading up to the holiday, like a blood stain on our lapels. At such a young age I felt the gravity of the sacrifice. Now as a grown up and with my own children I am ever more thankful for my freedom.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

~John McCrae