It's Memorial Day and between the stories of service to our country playing constantly on NPR and the steady drizzle that has kept up all day, I'm feeling nostalgic. A holiday designed to honor the men and women who died serving in our military, protecting our freedoms and safeguarding our way of life; it is an easy time to become sentimental.
I am of the strong opinion that one of the best ways to appreciate one's home country, is to travel somewhere else. In my various travels, I have learned a lot about the problems with the United States, but I have also come to appreciate the things we do really well. Working with refugees who are on the track to American citizenship is another powerful lens for understanding what a gift it is to be born into American citizenship. I will never take for granted my right to vote in American elections. What power I have. I am grateful for the sacrifice that others have made for this country.
It is a good time of year to be sentimental in general.
Several of the classes at my work have finished up in the past week. The ensuing graduation parties have been particularly heartfelt. In our college preparation class, I have taught a journal curriculum for the past four months where students respond to prompts in whatever fashion they want. Prompts ranged from "tell me about yourself" to "what does it mean to be an American" to "where is the strangest place you have ever slept?". At graduation, the students mentioned how grateful they were for having learned how to write about their experiences. One student wrote, "Thank you for teaching me how to tell my story. (Life)." Somehow this was the most poetic possible expression of gratitude I could ask for. I really was hoping to teach them a glimpse of the written word as a means of extending the borders of their very selves. I am so pleased that they felt that is what they received.
Yesterday, I had the honor of singing in the retirement concert of a beloved high school choir director. In the 24 years that this teacher taught at my alma mater, he has inspired thousands of students with powerful works of music. In our very own version of Mr. Holland's Opus, we got to spend the weekend practicing some of the most beautiful music he ever assigned and performing it for his greatest fans: students, alumni, teachers, faculty, staff, and community members. During the reception, a colleague read some of his accomplishments in the high school music program. He truly was fantastic. He dreamed big and encouraged his students to perform pieces the likes of which are normally reserved for college choirs. While I was in high school he pushed us to perform (and perform well) such fantastic and challenging pieces as Chichester Psalms, Handel's Messiah- including recitatives and solos, and pieces by Eric Whitacre, to name only a few. The entire event was a remarkable reflection on a passionate career spent moving the hearts, minds, and souls of countless individuals. We should each be lucky to find ourselves in work about which we are half so passionate.
I can't help but also think about Memorial Day weekend two years ago when I graduated from college and my Mom had an emergency appendectomy- that was unique. My friends helped us pack up all of my belongings in the van as quickly as possible so that Dad could rush her home and to the hospital in the middle of the night. Not quite the poetic end to my college career that I had hoped for, but I'm so grateful that Mom did get to see me graduate and made it to the hospital in time to avoid a ruptured appendix.
Sometimes it's hard to put one's finger on what it is that makes life awesome. It's the big important things, like freedom of speech, the right to vote, and access to healthcare. But it's also the small, intangible things like feeling connected to a whole community of singers who were trained by the same fantastic high school choral director and the opportunity to read about a student's life in their own words. It is these relationships that provide meaning to the chaos. Perhaps that is why Memorial Day is so powerful. It reminds us of our personal connection to all those who have served in our military, whether we know them or not, and the sacrifices they have made in the name of our country. It is a reminder that we are bound to one another by our shared citizenship.
Today, may we honor each other, our service members, and our country with sincere thoughtfulness and a re-commitment to liberty and justice for all.
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