Memorial Day: The Purpose We Forget

“Memorial Day: The Purpose We Forget”

Memorial Day isn’t just a long weekend. It isn’t just barbecue and lake trips or shopping deals and “Happy Memorial Day” posts filled with sunshine and American flags. Somewhere along the way, we started celebrating the break more than the bravery. And as someone who values tradition and remembering where we came from—I think we need to sit with that.

Let me say this clearly: Memorial Day is not Veterans Day. It’s not a celebration of those currently serving. It’s a somber and sacred pause for those who never made it home. It’s a day carved into our calendars to acknowledge an ultimate sacrifice—one that too many families know all too well. It’s for the names etched in marble, the flags folded at funerals, the uniforms never worn again.

We live in a country where freedom is often taken for granted—where people argue over the flag but forget the lives that were lost defending it. Where it’s easy to scroll past the solemnity because we’re distracted by a day off. I’m guilty of it too. It’s easy to get caught up in plans, in weather forecasts, in the noise of it all. But this weekend, I’m choosing to remember.

I’m remembering that Memorial Day is for the families who have an empty seat at the table. For the kids who grow up hearing stories instead of hearing their parent’s voice. For the spouses who wear grief like a second skin. For the brothers, the sisters, the friends who carry memories and “what ifs” with every step.

We owe them more than a cookout. We owe them our attention. Our gratitude. Our silence. Our understanding that the freedoms we enjoy didn’t come cheap—and that someone else paid for them with their life.

And let me say this, too: honoring the fallen doesn’t mean you have to be somber all day. Live your life. Laugh. Hug your kids. But do it with awareness. Say a prayer. Visit a memorial. Talk to your children about what the day really means. Be intentional. Make space for reflection.

Because freedom without remembrance is hollow.

So this Memorial Day, let’s get back to the heart of it. Let’s feel the weight of it. Let’s honor the ones who laid down everything they had for a country they loved and a people they would never meet.

Their sacrifice deserves more than a sale or a side dish.

It deserves our respect.

It deserves our time.

It deserves our remembrance.

—Dr. Nick