Summer Homework

When I was little, my mom always made us do summer homework. This, I imagine, was so we would stay caught up on what we learned the year before when school started in the fall. Or maybe it was so we could work on stuff we weren't so good at. I remember having to fill out sheets of timed math problems because I was always slow at that. But I got them right!

Thursday, after bringing my dad home from surgery (poor dad got his shoulder worked on three days before Father's Day... some fun), my mom told me we all had a summer homework assignment this weekend. And that assignment was to go to the Vietnam Memorial replica that's on display at the Newgate Mall. We could do it whenever we wanted, but it's leaving Sunday night at 6 so it had to be before then.

I decided to go this evening. I figured there would be fewer people there, and I knew it would be cooler. When your car has no air conditioning, that becomes important. When I got there, I was surprised by the number of people that were there. I figured there would be some, but not as many as there were.

As I walked into the area where the replica was set up, there was a display showing how the memorial came to be, and some of the things that people visiting the wall had left. As I read the different captions, I could help but choke up. These people had faced terrible things. Then I went over to where the wall was. Even though it is half the size of the actual monument, it was still pretty large. I didn't know anyone on the wall, so I walked around, read the notes others had left, and listened to the people around me.

I watched Boy Scouts retire some flags. I watched, with my hand on my heart, as some veterans took the flag down from the flagpole at sundown. I watched an older couple find the name of someone they knew. I listened as a father showed his son a name, and then told him, "If his name wasn't on this wall, you wouldn't be here."

I am so lucky. No one in my immediate family has had to serve in the military. I think I have to go clear back to my grandparents to find anyone that has. My dad didn't have to go to Vietnam, but I know a lot of people he knew did. Same with my mom. I don't know what I've done to be so blessed, to be safe, to know my family is safe. I remember when my neighbor was serving in Afghanistan and how the entire ward would pray every week for the military, but especially him and his family. He came back, safe and sound, thankfully.

I don't know where I was really going with this, but here's a summer homework assignment for you. If you have a chance, go see it. It's at the Newgate Mall, on the west side of Sears in the parking lot. It's open 24 hours a day until Sunday, when it closes at 6 PM. I don't think you'll be sorry you went.