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Our lives are composed of memories. Some good, some bad, some forgettable. Some memories we wish we could forget.

And some memories are burnt onto our consciousness so that try as we might, we will never forget.

Some memories call us back to good times. Some memories serve as warnings against certain actions that once caused us pain. These memories are guideposts that serve to direct our steps in the future.

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance, and for many, it is an excruciatingly painful time. It is a time to recall the sacrifice of loved ones. Their sacrifice has secured our freedoms and our way of life. It is a memory of loss, of those no longer with us.

It is almost a trite saying to say "freedom isn't free", a phrase that rolls easily off the tongue.

No, freedom isn't free. It is won through toil, pain, and sacrifice.

Some have paid the ultimate price so that we can enjoy our freedoms. They have laid down their life to preserve ours and our way of life. Blood has been shed, loss has been felt by loved ones, and pain lingers for all their days.

No, freedom isn't free.

Memorial Day calls all of us to remember the cost of our freedom. It calls us to remember the heroism of those that have fought and are fighting for the freedoms we enjoy.

And it calls us to never forget, to never shove that memory to back of our minds.

Ponder- really think on what it costs to be free- and that process can be painful. Some have personally experienced the loss of a loved one in the defense of our freedom. All of us have benefitted from the sacrifice of those that defend our freedom.

And we should never forget what it has cost to be free.

This Memorial Day, we honor those that have sacrificed and remain with us. We remember those that have paid the ultimate price so we can be free.

We offer our humble gratitude for your service and sacrifice.

And we will never forget.