[Looking at history and our area’s unique political and religious attitudes.]

Memorial May for our family is the weekend of the last Monday of May. Why not Day? We, like you, want more time.

We began acquiring the ranch property when our children were the age of their young adult children. After a few years of clearing, cleaning, and building roads, it became accessible enough to use. We began camping out around the big pond on Memorial Day weekend. The tradition continues, though modified a little.

The last two years the camp out has been more eat-in. The extensive weather the last weeks has made mowing near the pond an insurmountable chore, Tractor sliding into the water is less than fun. So, our ever so dependable son-in-law and I manicured the park. It is gorgeous with the tree cover, mowed lawn, and beautiful blue spiderworts peaking over the edges of the boulders.

Those wee ones that came along are now college age and graduates. One of the girls (young ladies sounds too old to grandpa) a couple of months ago asked Gram about the date and time. Why? So, she could schedule time off from her job to be sure to make Memorial May weekend. Wow. That is cool!

The first cousins are close friends and enjoy the others company. Make traditions, as simple as getting together, which last a lifetime. A tradition is simply something you do more than once, and they evolve.

All ten grandchildren came with all smiles. Two brought a girlfriend or a boyfriend. They are both sharp OSU collegians, so they fit well. The young lady has learned to interact with our very intense, driven family. Someone was teasing her about being a business major. Her smiling retort was ,’I am normal, Pops (me) said so.’ Ho, ho, ho. Good girl, you fit in, and can keep your own in the repartee with your sharp wit.

As you who have followed us for a while know, we are a very science-oriented family of engineers, veterinarian, scientific analysts, and architects. So, when introducing our family, I refer to our business major and entrepreneur daughter as normal, like her mom.

Later our architectural engineering granddaughter and her electrical engineering boyfriend needed their own space. Besides, they are both excellent musicians in the OSU band. They were in the park, with her on a swing and him gently swinging her. Fascinating, memories of more than five decades came flowing back to when I was doing the same thing for her grandmother.

“Forever Young” from Bob Dylan is still on replay. Read the lyrics.

Regardless of the stress, frustration, and difficulty that life brings, all is well. They all are good God-aware grandkids. My grandparents’ legacy continues. Only one has not found a direction, yet.

Oh, Memorial May continues. On Monday, after the normal rituals, our veterinarian son, son-in-law, and two high school grandsons worked on my 1951 Chevy sedan delivery. It has been parked in the garage for years and they were helping resurrect it. The grandson has restored a 1978 Scout with original patina and is rebuilding a 1955 International pick-up that still has the business sign on the door. Yes, he too is planning on engineering.

What can I say more? Our progeny makes us proud.

How does this link to Memorial Day, besides the great times with family? The ’51 Chevy, I bought well-used as a young Air Force Lieutenant. It served me well. Memorial Day creates memories I do not like, from a long-ago era.

We were a bunch of mostly young guys, just starting to live, like our grandkids now. 58,220 of my friends and associates were killed, for what? McNamara’s futile war in Vietnam was not for the national interest, the country was not at risk; and not for Southeast Asia, they were abandoned after an estimated 882,00 in one country alone were killed.

President and General Eisenhower had warned against enhancing the wealth of the military-industrial complex. The next Democratic President did not heed. McNamara went from president of Ford Motor, to Secretary of Defense for two Democratic Presidents, then to president of World Bank. He admittedly lied to his bosses and the people. His bosses lied, too. Do the follies look familiar?

Put it in perspective. The carnage of my young associates is equivalent to 29,110 F3 tornadoes we saw last weekend. Let their memory encourage us to not be tricked again.

Now we see three wars, not isolated: a war of survival for old friends in a small country in the Middle East, another war for wealth and greed in Europe, and a war for our national survival on the Southern border, which too is a war for wealth and greed. Are we going to be tricked again?

Think about it. Family is grand. It is all that we leave functioning after our time on Earth. War on one or both sides is about money, greed, and power trading on the life of the next generations. Let them live and by God’s grace enjoy time with them.