The Eve of Memorial Day – April 27, 2009

We always begin the day before. Holidays, ceremonies, memorials. But to me the day in memory of all the soldiers is always preceded by a day of teaching that is interrupted by a service. The service is always followed by more classes but I never know what I’m talking about by then. I look out at the students and see victims – young people mourning. And then the campus is empty, every one rushing home with little to discuss on the day.
By six the shops are closed and the streets are empty. We watch the national ceremony on TV and the pictures of all the soldiers I have known flash before me. Their families gather together in my thoughts. The friends lost in terror attacks visit me once again.
The waste of it – the waste of war – No one ever gives a speech about honor and glory of war, only the loss, and the honor of the dead. It is one of the few times when I am happy to hear the name of our anthem, the Hope.
Few people can be unaffected by this day. Not all that long ago I was hanging out khaki uniforms on the line on a Friday morning, and noticed how many of my neighbors were doing the same thing. Olive green or khaki, the mothers were hanging out the army laundry for the weekend, and were very happy to do it because it meant their child was safe and sound for the sabbath.
What of the Arabs, you say? Well, tomorrow evening, as I begin the celebrations for Independence Day, I will not mourn their day of loss so much as wish them a cause for Independence Day celebrations as well.