Memorial day is quickly approaching.  I’m sure many of you have your grocery list prepared for the picnic in the park. Maybe you are getting the boat ready for the weekend at the lake. Maybe it’s early bird shopping for the latest white sale.  But maybe, just maybe, it’s a weekend of reflection for you.  It’s a weekend to remember why we can have picnic and go boating without worry.  It’s a weekend where you remember your fallen family members or those who lost their life for our freedom. My grandfather was a merchant marine in WWII. He was a short little Sicilian butcher, and SO proud of his job.  He was one of the most patriotic men I have ever known.  This weekend stirs many emotions for me. Obviously I remember my Nonno and his recollections of his service to this country.  On a more personal note, I remember standing on a dock waving goodbye with the cries and screams of the other navy wives in the background,  watching their men leave for a tour, not knowing if they would return. I want my kids to know what freedom is, and what it means and how we got it in the first place.  So this weekend, when you grill up your burgers, say a little prayer for those men and women still fighting in the never ending war, pray for their safety, their courage, their families they have left behind, and thank them for the safety in which you sit down with your family for a happy picnic in the park. 

Keepin’ it Original,

Gina