Join the new world

Remember them.
Not just for the heroism, but for the families that they left beind.
Not just for the spouses and children, but the communities, the towns, the history they left behind.
It's more than just accepting that they are gone. How do you box up their clothes? How do you put who they were in storage? How do you look at the front door knowing they will never walk through it again?
How do you look a photograph without letting the tears fall?
Dreams disappear. All the remains are the memories.
The hole in you heart, in your soul, can never be mended.
You ache to hear their voice, their laugh. You smell their cologne, that certain scent, it squeezes your lungs shut and you can't breathe.
You long to hear them say "I love you"
Children long to be in their mother's arms, to play catch with their fathers.
Children growing up, with their parents never seeing the person they became.
Mothers and fathers burying their sons and daughters, the pattern is broken.
The 21 gun salute, a folded up flag, and the comfort knowing they are buried with their brothers and sisters.


Remember them.
Because without our fallen heroes, it means nothing. Our freedom means nothing. Our stars and stripes mean nothing. Their courage, their honor, their purpose would mean nothing.