Day 23: The Last Thing To Make Me Cry

Yesterday: Memorial Day 2011

Jeff has a tradition to watch the movie Saving Private Ryan on Memorial Day. It helps him remember those who serve our country and all they have to give up for us to have the freedom we take for granted.

I, on the other hand, try to avoid war movies as much as possible. I just don't like seeing the brutality of war (I know, strange coming from someone who loves watching scary movies, but the difference is in the reality vs. fiction. War is real; ghosts are not).

But I do like traditions and I especially like starting to set up "family traditions" with my husband, so I told him I'd sit downstairs while he watched the movie. I couldn't promise I'd watch it, but I'd be there with him.

But I did watch it. I watched the story unfold and I watched all those men die trying to save one young man because he was the last of his brothers to remain in the war. I watched as they desperately tried to avoid sending a fourth letter to the mother that her sacrifice for the countries was the greatest of them all.

At the end of the movie, of course I was in tears. So many lives, so many people, so many lost loved ones.

Jeff left the room and I sat and let the impact of the movie sink in. It was more than just a handful of characters that I had spent the last three hours with. What about all those nameless men slaughtered in the backgrounds? What about ALL the mothers, wives, siblings and children who had to hear that their men would never be returning? What about all the real life soldiers who really had to go through it, watching their friends and companions die off as they kept marching forward in an effort to protect someone they didn't even know and a country they may never see again? By the time Jeff returned to the living room, I was sobbing.

I've always understood the pain and impact of war, but somehow it never seemed as real to me as it did in those few moments while the credits ran. So many people sacrifice so much for me and I'm completely oblivious. And would I be willing to do the same? Would I put myself in the path of war so that someone I didn't know could live a life of freedom? Would I be willing to give up those men in my life, my brothers or my husband, for the same?

After sobbing on his shoulder for a few minutes, I looked at Jeff and said "And this is why I don't watch war movies."

Thank you to all the men and women who have served for our country. And thank you to all the civilians who have let their loved ones go to be our heroes.