Memorial Day Memorials

I know this is after Memorial day but I have some memorials to make. This last week and weekend has certainly been filled with a number of tragedies. First there was the death of two students from MLC. They were driving up by Two Rivers and the driver lost control on a curve and went into the ditch. There was mention of a high rate of speed but I don't know if that's true. Both these kids were from my high school alma mater, Lakeside Lutheran, and graduated last May.

Next on Friday, a 17 year old kid from Kt's class at Wisconsin Lutheran got his recently purchased car over 100 mph on highway 45 and hit a median, rolled 4 times and him and his two passengers were ejected from the car. The driver BJ Webb died. The other two had serious injuries but are alive.

Lastly I heard about Pastor Paul Schmeling, a WELS pastor who died this last weekend when he fell out of a tree. He was pruning the branches in the tree and fell and landed on his head.

I have had many thoughts. One of my first was anger that a certain child of mine has on numerous occasions stressed the limits of my BMW or his RX7 as if the manufacturer's might have been mistaken when they said the top speeds were 125 or so. One wrong move and ....lights out. I am not prepared to have to deal with my children's stupidity in this way. I would not be opposed to placing said crumpled vehicles right at a prominent corner of the school as a testimony to what can happen in one moment of misjudgement.

The deaths of these young kids and an esteemed called worker however unusual in their concentration still mark that the Lord is in control and he numbers our days. Everything happens according to his good purpose. Perhaps other kids will live this "graduation season" because they paid special attention to the recent tragedies. Heck, I also am a seatbelt slacker and I have now been remembering to buckle up.

Lastly I do want to salute all those who have died in the defense of our freedom. It is certainly more poignant now that I have one in the Marines and (hopefully) one more on the cusp of enlisting. However, my first appreciation for the service our fallen soldiers gave struck me the most when I was a caretaker in a couple of cemetaries while in college. It was the least I could do to make sure to fix any broken flag holders and to make sure no weeds grew around their graves. The most striking things of course were the funerals. In the small town I grew up in the American Legion would often provide a 3 gun salute for veterans. I think this is a thing of the past, but I do remember that I would always turn off my mower and note that those shots ring right to your core. I hope I never hear them in relation to any of my own children.