A Day of Reflection

Memorial Day weekend was pretty good. Joe and I had both Saturday and Sunday off. Saturday we took Ramona to the park and just kind of hung out. Sunday we went to church for the first time since Christmas Eve. I was nervous about that, but Ramona was really good. And I was worried about her Stranger Danger sensor going off with all the new people but instead she was super happy and kept throwing her hands out trying to get other people to hold her. Everyone thought she was cute, of course, and they seemed happy to have a baby there. After that we went to the Mexican restaurant near my OB's office that we used to go to all the time when I was pregnant. We hadn't been since Ramona was born, so it was nice to go again. Ramona was pretty well behaved there, too. Then we did some grocery shopping and Joe got stuff to change the oil in the car and we went home.

Today I worked. Obviously Memorial Day makes you think of people you know who have served in the military, and Joe and I both have lots of family who have served (various grandparents and great grandparents, both of our dads, two of Joe's brothers) and of people who died while in service, but I had never really considered how much of their lives people give even when they don't give their life until recently. One couple that I went to school with ended up getting married after being high school sweethearts. They recently had their first child, a daughter, who is a couple months younger than Ramona. Not long after she was born her Dad had to go overseas for military duty. They make it work, even though I know it's really hard on them. The mom has a cardboard cutout of the dad and takes pictures of their daughter with "Flat Daddy" that crack me up. They keep a positive attitude and just accept that it's part of their life. Giving up most of the first year of your child's life is so big, and it's something that I never really thought about before. I can't imagine how hard it would be right now if Joe wasn't here to enjoy all the little moments we have with Ramona, or to take over when I get overwhelmed, especially if I was also concerned for his safety the entire time.

There are so many sacrifices that the troops make to keep our country safe and our lives happy and our families together. I truly appreciate them, even if I don't know the half of them.