This weekend is more than just a long weekend, more than the unofficial beginning of summer. Monday is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who have borne the battle “that government of the people, by the people, and for the people shall not perish from the earth.”

Memorial Day is often represented by row upon row of white crosses with small flags planted at their bases and fluttering in the springtime breeze. But each of those crosses also represents the life of a child, a father or mother, a brother or sister, a husband or wife, a best friend, whose life was cut short. (more…)