What I think about on Memorial Day.

Today is Memorial Day.  The day we set aside to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice.  Today I think about my dad and what he thought about on that boat out from Okinawa on the way to the Japanese mainland.  I wonder what is thoughts were. Did he think about home, his family, his parents?  I never got to ask him these questions and wish I would have.  I also think about all of the other members of my extended family, friends and classmates who have performed service to our country.   I still remember going out by the old Riverside grocery store in my hometown to purchase poppies. (the real ones) and the parade that they still have back home.  I think about how Memorial Day was such a big day when I was growing up.  Sometimes I wonder if we have lost some of that specialness.