Have a nice long weekend 

A tweet from the Vice President has people feeling some type of way this Memorial Day weekend. Why? Because some feel as though the sentiment, “Have a nice long weekend” does not truly capture the essence of what this weekend is about.  “Have a nice long weekend” is a perfectly acceptable thing to say to a co-worker whom with you have no discernible urge to actually care about what they do over the weekend. “Cook bacon naked and deep fry a bottle rocket Greg. I seriously don’t give a shit! I’ll see you on Tuesday. Or I won’t. Either way, I’m fine.” 

The same lackluster enthusiasm is met with further scrutiny when it comes from the Twitter account of the second in command of the worlds finest fighting force. 

The reason this tweet is offensive to some is because it is void of the recognition of why we get to sleep in and nurse hangovers on Monday. 

“This country is built upon the backs of dead young soldiers.” (Swenor, Rodney 2020)

This weekend is to take a moment and understand that regardless of where you stand politically, emotionally, religiously, or otherwise, if you are a citizen of these United States a great debt is owed to those that died for this nation. There are further debates to be had about the moralities of war and the underlying cause of the United States involvement in other countries. But those arguments have no place clouding the respect due to those that have laid their lives down for the sake of something insurmountable. 

A debt is owed. And the only debt that can be paid to the dead is in the form of respect. 

In the absence of our elected leadership doing so, let us bring forth the honor that is due with this weekend. Let us not form more hysteria and division over the tweets of a politician. Let us honor those that can no longer share these weekend festivities. Let us remember that the underlying pillars of this nation have never been nor will it ever be the politicians that send us to war. The foundation is the military. And the sad reality is that those dead soldiers serving as the proverbial cornerstone  of the foundation were more than just bodies in uniforms. They were  friends, leaders, co-workers, sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers. Those are the ones that deserve our attention this weekend. Not some socially disconnected profiteer of war. She can save her false sincerity for another post. 

This weekend is ours to live.

Call your buddies. 

Remind each other that the pain is not singular. 

We all fucking hurt. 

Remember the good times. 

The belly laughing memories that made all the bullshit worth it. 

Loss is complicated. 

Loss is fucked. 

But living in honor is certainly not. 

Have whatever kind of weekend you want to, just take at least one moment and absorb the gravity that encompasses this. long. weekend. 

Knees in the breeze.