"... from these honored dead, we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain...

~Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address~

Freedom Isn't Free 

I watched the flag pass by one day, it fluttered in the breeze -
A young Marine saluted it, and then he stood at ease.

I looked at him in uniform, so young, so tall, so proud -
With hair cut square and eyes alert, he'd stand out in any crowd.

I thought, how many men like him had fallen through the years?
How many died on foreign soil? How many mothers' tears?

I heard the sound of taps one night, when everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play and felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times that taps had meant "Amen" -
When a flag had draped a coffin of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children, of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands with interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard at the bottom of the sea -
Of unmarked graves in Arlington. No, *Freedom isn't free*!!

By Kelly Strong

If I knew it would be the last time 
I'd see you fall asleep, 
I would tuck you in tighter 
and pray the lord your soul to keep. 

If I knew it would be the last time 
that I'd see you walk out the door, 
I would give you a hug and kiss 
and come back for just one more.

If I knew it would be the last time 
I'd hear your voice lifted up in praise 
I'd videotape each action and word, 
so I could play them back day by day.

If I knew it would be the last time 
I could spare an extra minute or two, 
to stop and say "I love you"
instead of assuming you would KNOW I do.

If I knew it would be the last time
I would be there to share your day.
Well, I'm sure you'll have so many more, 
so I can just let this one slip away.

For surely there's always tomorrow 
to make up for an oversight, 
and we always get a second 
chance to make everything right. 

There will always be another day 
to say our "I love you"
certainly there's another chance
to say "anything I can do?"

But just in case I might be wrong, 
and today is all I get, 
I'd like to say how much I love you 
and hope we never forget.

Tomorrow is not promised 
to anyone young or old alike, 
and today may be the last chance 
you get to hold your loved one tight. 

Always hold them near, and take time to say
"I'm sorry!" "Please forgive me!" "Thank you!" "It's ok!" 
and if tomorrow never comes 
you'll have no regrets about today. 

~~author unknown~~

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