Mikes Place

By Michael L. Craner

May 2000

This month we celebrate Mothers on Mothers day, and remember our lost on Memorial Day. Most of us know what Mothers Day is all about, but how many really understand Memorial Day?

I have always been under the impression that Memorial Day was just a generic day, to remember all of our lost loved ones, but as I prepared to write this column, I found out that Memorial Day was first conceived in 1865 by a druggist in Waterloo New York, to remember and honor the patriotic dead of the Civil War. After nearly 100 years the government finally got around to officially recognizing Memorial Day, or “Decoration Day” as it was first called. (Guess the government didn’t work to fast even back then)

A very romantic story, but I still feel that others deserve to be remembered on Memorial Day as well.

I wonder what other living veterans think about on Memorial Day. Surely they remember their fallen comrades, grandparents and spouses too. I wonder if, like me, they also remember the other people. The people whose countries we have traveled to, to defend and protect. The ones hit hardest by whatever aggression was present. Vainly trying to make it through just one more day...each day…and the ones who didn’t make it.

Or worse. The ones who did.

I look at his picture on my mantle, and try to imagine the horrors he lived through. We lost my wife’s grandfather last year to cancer. As if the nightmares of his youth were not enough on the poor man, he relived them in his final days. He was a prisoner of war in World War II, but not before he watched his parents and siblings tortured and murdered by the SS before he fled his homeland of Poland. They did catch him though, and he lived for several years in a German prison until he escaped. He never did return to his homeland, fearing that he would be re-captured and extradited back as an escaped prisoner. The last few months in the hospital were terrible for him. He had gone back in time, and lost his mind. The nurses would find him hiding under his bed, sobbing, or trying to escape from the hospital. They had to resort to restraining him to his bed, which only made the reality of his nightmares more real. I regret that we could not go to him before he left us, but I know he is in a better place now, and finally at peace.

Last year, myself and other readers here (as well as authors), lost a good friend; Kris St. Louis. Most of us met her online chatting, and despite her failing health, she was always a warm friendly “face” that encouraged and brightened our day anytime we talked. She was also a very talented musician who inspired and entertained many, although it seems we met her too late, as she had another place to go. Many of us felt her loss deeply, although we knew she too had gone on to a better place, free from pain and suffering.

It’s strange how deeply we love people, then watch them as they die, often in terrible pain and suffering, wishing there was something we could do. Then when God takes their pain, and gathers their wondrous soul to Him, we feel as if something had been cut out of ourselves. I try to believe that we haven’t lost them, that we only need to open our hearts to the reality that now they are everywhere, within us, and all around. All we need to do is remember them, and honor them, and death becomes only thin curtain, separating us only in body, but not in heart and soul.

This month, lets remember our lost, but also try to remember that they aren’t lost, they have merely moved on to continue their journeys, and as long as we hold them in our hearts, they will live on.

Below is a picture I put together, through the wonders of computers to remember Kris by. In my mind, this is how I see her now, and all the others who have passed on. Silently watching over us until we meet again.

Till Next Time…

Mike
Pencil Stubs Online - Webmaster