Whiteley Creek Homestead

Each Memorial Day, Dick and I attend an outdoor ceremony honoring men and women presently serving in a branch of the armed forces and those who have been injured or killed protecting our country and freedom. A speaker at this year's event reminded us that "freedom is not free". It comes at a cost. He shared Eleanor Roosevelt's Wartime Prayer. "Lest I keep my complacent way, I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?" This quote has resonated so clearly in my mind since the words echoed from the podium to where we stood under a mature stand of oaks and pines at the edge of a crowd of people gathered at the cemetery. It has caused me to consider how I choose to spend each day… to make my life matter.