Saturday, May 26, 2012

Getting Ready

A lot of prep going into Monday's  wear blue: run to remember . It started off with just a hope that some of my friends & fellow community would come out to honor our Fallen. We have managed to get over 30 adults plus children now who have pledged miles. We are currently up to 172 Miles Pledged for our Fallen. I'm so grateful to everyone who is giving up a couple hours of their Memorial Day to remember why the day is really set aside as a holiday. 

Someone said to me today " happy Memorial Day" it made me stop and think. I thought back to last year as I read a BLOG from a War Widow who wanted others to realize it's not a "happy day" for most. No it may not be sad & full of tears for a lot of people . But each person who has lost a soldier is in a different stage of grief so to say " happy Memorial Day" is not really appropriate. This made a lot of sense to me so I am no longer saying happy Memorial Day ever again, but Thank you. My way of saying this will be this run this year & I hope every year I am able I will run . Here are a few of the pictures showing the prep leading up to the run. Anyone can offer to host a wear blue: run to remember at anytime. I just wanted to make Monday's a little more special.

It started with Banyan & I doing a little shopping yesterday. Then we headed out to Dupont early this morning to pick up the shirts that several of our runners bought.


 From there Banyan & I where close to post so I headed to the 4th Brigade Memorial. Every year since they opened it I have visited on Memorial Day to remember all our friends listed on that wall. This year we will run for them so I went today to place the flowers & the flag.



Next I met up with my friend Dana who offered to help make placards with all the Fallen soldier's names. If a runner turned in a name to be read then we made a placard that will line the trail part of the way. It's a visual reminder of their sacrifice. It was very touching as Dana & I worked on these to look at the date. To see how long ago some soldier's died as well as just this past Monday we lost two. It was a very sobering reminder that this war is not over until they all come home.





These simple extra touches are not required if you host a run. But I felt it will make the meaning behind the run that much more powerful. These men & women went when called, stood beside their fellow soldiers . Then made the ultimate sacrifice so my family could live free. It was no trouble at all to do things to honor them. I was over whelmed with emotion as I made shirt deliveries .The excitement that my friends & fellow runners expressed over participating really solidified my choice to host this run. I am ready for Memorial Day are you ?




2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't it strange. I was looking for something for our Unit online (they're deploying this fall) and I came across a picture that made me stop. I am the Chairman of the Stryker Brigade Memorial Fund, the organization responsible for the upkeep of the memorial in your picture. Additionally, I walked on Memorial Day for the fallen. Although it wasn't official, it was in the same spirit that you write about. I live on JBLM and keeping the memory of our fallen is very important to me. Thank you for doing the same. Abra

Amanda said...

Abra,
My husband & I where apart of 4th Brigade for almost 7 years. They will always hold a special place in our hearts. Thank you for taking such great care of the Memorial that so many worked so hard to create.