Weekend Mirths-A Thoughtful Holiday

{boldly going where no stroller has gone before} 

Saturday morning was a world of discovery.  While Jeff headed out to help the neighborhood pull branches out of their front windows and off of their cars, I bundled Sawyer boy and headed out for a stroll through the untouched snow.  We were both in a state of complete shock at the strange beauty and somewhat terrifying results of the huge winter storm.  Instead of seeing tons of runners and other strollers as we usually do, we saw neighbors walking around with shovels and chainsaws, stopping anywhere to lend some help where needed.  We encountered complete silence broken only by the occasional sound of branches being cut and our own exclamations and efforts to get the stroller through inches of snow.  It was amazing to see our little community pull together and we- for the gazillionth time- were so glad that we moved to such a wonderful part of town. 

The quiet lent itself to reflection and we strolled through Memorial Park, dedicated to veterans and our country, thinking about the brave people who, past and present, have been fighters for freedom.  In the park there is a memorial that among other things, has a letter written by Abraham Lincoln to Mrs. Bixby inscribed on one side. It reads:

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

Abraham Lincoln 

I cry every time I read it.  Maybe it's the mother in me, maybe it's the eloquence of speech and feeling, but most likely it's the heartfelt gratitude for all our veterans and servicemen who "[lay] so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom." I'm certainly thankful for sacrifices made by those who serve, as well as their families, and it was them we remembered and prayed for this weekend.