Today was about the most beautiful Memorial Day one could ask for. In the morning we completed a short family hike through the forest to a remote beach on Puget Sound. After a quiet afternoon of reading and looking through home listings, we met some friends at the park and let the kids run loose on the playground. By then it was too late to worry about cooking dinner, so we picked up some food on the way home. After chatting online with my parents for a while, my wife and I got the kids in bed and finished the evening watching a movie together.

In the late afternoon as I was running footraces against my son (who is surprisingly speedy for a 4-year-old) I felt a pang of sadness for the men and women who have fallen in combat for the United States of America and would not have a similar opportunity to see the laughter and growth of their children. Lately I've been engrossed by the book Lone Survivor, in which Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell gives an eyewitness account of a few of these brave soldiers who lost their lives during a special operations mission against Taliban fighters in Afghanistan. These men and thousands like them paid a very high price to preserve the freedom and opportunities that I enjoy in their place. They made the ultimate sacrifice that allows us to enjoy our daily lives, and they deserve recognition for that not just today, but every day. God bless them and their families.
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