On Memorial Day

Though it was grey, chilly and drizzly today David and I still went for our walk this morning. On our walk we passed by two monuments outside of city hall. We took a moment and paid our respects figuring that due to the pandemic this would be the extent of a Memorial Day ceremony for us today. After our walk we went to Lowe's to pick up a few things David needed to start painting our bedroom. We were really impressed to see a dedicated spot to the fallen. 

Memorial Day is a challenging holiday for me. Often times my birthday falls on Memorial Day weekend so there's always the challenge of balancing the celebration with reverence and honor. As a Gold Star family, there's also a personal connection and a deep knowledge that Memorial Day is for those who died in battle. 

For those who don't know, one of my father's brothers was killed in action in Vietnam. From the time we were little my brother, sister and I were taught the difference: Memorial Day is for those who died in battle. Veterans Day is for those who have served and Armed Forces Day is for those currently serving. Two are days for celebration, one is a day for reverence and remembering. "We don't wish anyone a happy Memorial Day just like we don't wish anyone a happy funeral." It is a lesson that has stuck with me my entire life. And so, I pass that wisdom on to all of you in hopes that you will refrain from saying "happy Memorial Day" and that you will take a moment today to honor those brave men and women who gave their lives in battle defending the freedoms we hold dear and the country the loved. 🇺🇸

{This Moment} Honoring...

{This Moment} A weekend ritual. A single photo -no words- capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.....

Remembering...

I will never forget how blue the sky was that day. It was easily the most gorgeous blue sky I had ever witnessed (then and still).

Eighteen years ago I was teaching at The New England Center for Children. As I drove from my apartment in Belmont to the school in Southborough I remember think that it was the most gorgeous day ever and that I was looking forward to the end of the school day so that I could spend the rest of it outside enjoying what (at that point) felt like the most beautiful day ever.

I was teaching when the new came. A quiet knock came on our door. I think it was from our team supervisor, Nicole, telling us that something had happend in NYC. Since we had a TV in our room we quickly switched it on to see what was happening. We were all in shock as we stared at the images unfolding on the screen. Surely, this had to be some movie stunt gone wrong? But no, that was not the case at all. Even before NECC decied to send everyone home early that day (something that was unheard of) parents had started calling to say they would be coming to pick up their child. Many had ties to NYC (or worked in NYC or flew regularly on those two planes) and felt as if they needed to circle the wagons up and be with their families in that moment. A feeling we all shared.

It was a traffic free ride down the Pike back home to Belmont that day. It was eerily quiet. I called my mom from the car and she said to me, "You really shouldn't be driving and talking on the phone to which I replied, "No worries, mom, I am on the only one on the road." The quiet remained for the rest of the day and all through the night (and for several days and nights thereafter). The only noise being that of an occasional fighter jet flying overhead (patrolling from Hanscom AFB).

And yet, here we are, eighteen years later, able to remember everything about that day as if it just happend. Including the gorgeous blue color of the sky....

In Remembrance

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow,
Between the crosses, row on row, 

That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly,
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago 

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie,
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

-John McCrae

Remember

On this day, seventeen Septembers later, we continue to remember, honor, mourn, and grieve. xo 

In Remembrance

A small but mighty group from the two UCC churches in Framingham gathered at noon today in the Bell Garden at our church to honor the forty-nine lives lost in the Pulse Night Club shooting in Orlando last year. Each of the seven in attendance took turns ringing the bell seven times (for a total of forty-nine). Though a quieter bell ringing than most taking place today the message of love and remembrance was very strong and clear indeed. xo

49 Bells to Remember Pulse Let us ring one for tears, one for parents left, one for lovers, one for siblings, one for friends, one for friends never made. Let us ring, and it is seven, for the talents that will not be shared, the music not sung, dinners not shared, stories that will not be told, the invention or the poem which will not be. Let us ring, and it is thirteen for people who are afraid to go dancing, for hatreds that are growing in secret, for mental illness which will not be treated because of the selfishness of health care, for ugliness wrapped in god-language, for people who still think their guns are more precious than neighbors, and for even one person who will not come out. Let us ring and it is nineteen for parentless children, the empty spaces in pride parades, for how Orlando doesn’t mean Disney World  to anyone older than twelve, and Pulse doesn’t mean I’m-still-alive-and-I-can-make-a-difference. to most of us over sixty. Let us ring twenty-five because of grandmas, twenty-six because of grandpas, and twenty-seven to include all the people who brought flowers and signs to the nightclub, wrote on Facebook, said a prayer. For the smallest of bells begins the ringing of hope. Let us ring one bell for every word – this will not happen again. And ring – courage, hope, pride, compassion, gun control, the healing of hatred, the easing of fears, the commitment to change. Let us ring and it is forty-one for the future of Orlando, for the possibility of love, all kinds of love, for the claiming of identity – all that discovering of what it is to be human, for the welcome in faith communities where everyone is safe. Let us ring a rainbow, ring so we will always remember, and ring tomorrow. And I will ring a bell for you, if you will ring a bell for me. -Rev. Maren Tirabassi

Memorial Day

Fifteen Septembers

On this day, fifteen Septembers later, we remember, we honor, we mourn and we grieve. xo

We Remember

Wordless Wednesday:: In Remembrance

Wordless Wednesday::In Remembrance