Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with readers of Daily Kos who aren’t throwing pies at one another.
Drop by and tell us about your weather, your garden, or what you cooked for supper.
Newcomers may notice that many who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but we welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.
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THIS IS AN OPEN THREAD
Nothing is Off the Table
But play nice
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To honor their Service and Sacrifice
![ARLINGTON, VA - MAY 21: American flags are shown after being placed by members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment at the graves of U.S. soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in preparation for Memorial Day May 21, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia. "Flags-In" has become an annual ceremony since the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) was designated to be an Army's official ceremonial unit in 1948 (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)](http://images.dailykos.com/images/406310/large/Arlington_National_Cemetery.jpg?1495948035 "ARLINGTON, VA - MAY 21: American flags are shown after being placed by members of the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment at the graves of U.S. soldiers buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in preparation for Memorial Day May 21, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia. "Flags-In" has become an annual ceremony since the 3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) was designated to be an Army's official ceremonial unit in 1948 (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)")
Memorial Day is not a holiday, but a day to remember and honor those who gave their life in Service to the Nation.
Most people also honor the memory of family and friends who have passed on this day.
Some of us will travel to cemeteries and some to monuments to pay our respects.
Some of us will bring flowers or American Flags to leave on gravestones.
Some of us have forgotten the meaning of Memorial Day and for them, it’s the yearly reminder that summer is just around the corner, and an excuse to have a 3 day weekend at the beach or the mountains or at a resort.
Some of us will spend part of today at a Memorial Day parade.
Some of us will spend three days preparing for a family potluck BBQ picnic, where the conversation will include the memories of family members who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
Some of us will travel short or long distances to mark the day with parents on the other coast or dear friends five states away.
However and wherever your Memorial Day happened, I hope the reminder of your lost family or friends brings a bit of joy to you today, a sweet memory or two of someone long lost or recently passed.
I’m honoring my grandfather, Eugene E. Marx, who survived his military Service in WWII, including being shot down over Poland and a Nazi POW, marched across Germany and Poland in one of the war’s most deadly Death Marches — to live out the American dream.
Married before the war broke out, he came home to two children who didn’t remember him, like many WWII Veterans. But he built a good life, bought a home, worked in heavy equipment and raised a fine son and daughter.
He was a kind man with a soft voice and hands, who loved dogs to the detriment of every other thing on Earth.
I am proud to bear his name.