Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was filled with lovely weather, lots of lacrosse in Baltimore, being surrounded by lots of family and friends, and reflection on the meaning of the day. Thank you to the men and women and families who have served or are currently serving and sacrifice so much in order to protect our country and our freedom here at home. Each and everyday, I am proud to be an American.

Here is one of my favorite patriotic songs...I love the things this song says about Our American Flag and all that it stands for. Take a moment to listen to it on Youtube, I love how Johnny Cash says it/sings it.


"Old Ragged Flag" By Johnny Cash

I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down,
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town".
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it".
He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down,
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of
That Ragged Old Flag"

"You see, we got a little hole in that flag there,
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
and It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it,
writing "Say Can You See"
It got a rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
tugging at its seams.
and It almost fell at the Alamo
beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on
That Ragged Old Flag

"On Flanders Field in World War I,
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun,
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp, and low, a time or two,
She was in Korea, Vietnam, She went where she was sent
by her Uncle Sam.
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
and now they've about quit wavin' back here at home
in her own good land here She's been abused,
She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused,
And the government for which she stands
Has been scandalized throughout out the land.
And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin,
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in.
Cause she's been through the fire before
and i believe she can take a whole lot more.

"So we raise her up every morning
And we bring her down slow every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On second thought
I *do* like to brag
Cause I'm mighty proud of
That Ragged Old Flag"


We Will Never Forget

Please read these Memorial Day stories. They will break your heart and bring you to tears, but they allow us to know more about those who serve our country in the words of those they loved and cherished the most...as husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, uncles, nephews, grandfathers...as wives, mothers, daughters, nieces, grandmothers, friends. These stories show how I want to love and be loved. I read the ones about Mary McHugh and James Regan, Katherine Cathey and 2nd Lt. James J. Cathey, and Ty and Renee Ziegel.