By REP. JAMIE ALLARD
Sometimes the solemnity of remembering our fallen soldiers can make it hard to accept the word “celebrate.”
As I plan my Memorial Day celebrations, I sometimes feel a pang of guilt. It’s hard to hold remembrance and fun in the same hands.
I find myself wondering, “is a barbecue irreverent?” But I have learned that grief comes in waves, and the ones we’ve lost would want us to remember and to celebrate. We can still honor our fallen by celebrating this weekend.
If you’ve ever lost a loved one, you know how grief ebbs and flows like the tide. You know the sudden crash of a wave of sadness, where the tears well up and spill over like the foam on the beach. You know the joy of stumbling upon the beautiful memories like shells and treasures in the glistening sand. Though we mourn what we have lost, we know they would want us to live. To really live. To celebrate life every chance we get.
Barbecuing with family and friends doesn’t mean that we have forgotten. I have planned all sorts of celebration and opportunities for joy over the three-day weekend. I’ll be attending a birthday party for a dear friend, cleaning headstones for our fallen heroes, hammocking with my daughters late at night, rejoicing with God at church on Sunday, and honoring those who’ve given the ultimate sacrifice come Monday.
Just as Christ died for us and wants us to know joy in our lives, I know my brothers and sisters who gave that ultimate sacrifice would want us to be happy. They died that we might know the joy of freedom, for precious moments with our families in that security and prosperity they protected at any cost. We live our best life, to the fullest, because those who died for us gave us the ability to do so.
So, I can take comfort that a barbecue is not irreverent. That camping trip, the fishing, the kayaking, the gardening, the baseball tournaments, all of it can bring honor to our soldiers. Take a solemn pause, lift up a “thank you” to the heavens, and toast in remembrance of the men and women who made it possible.
To our heroes, those who have gone before us, gone too soon, and those who will follow in their footsteps, we salute you. “Thank you” will never be enough. But a life well lived, that is the best remembrance we can offer. You are never forgotten.
Rep. Jamie Allard of Eagle River is a veteran serving in the Alaska Legislature.
