It was a genealogy moment. I was thinking about Memorial Day, and that it would be good to write a post honoring my own ancestors. I couldn't think of anyone! Oh, there were plenty of ancestors who fought in wars, from before our country was founded through World War II, including both sides of the Civil War, but none who died in their service, which is what Memorial Day is all about.
"How odd," I thought. "Was our family just extraordinarily lucky?"
And then I laughed at myself. It's not odd at all. Who is it, mostly, who dies in wars? Young men! Men who go off to war early in life and don't come back, never to have the opportunity to become ancestors.
If we were to honor our ancestors who suffered the loss of a child in service to their country, that would be a very different story.
I never thought of it that way, but you're right. My husband, brother-in-law, and five uncles served in WWII. They all came home. (Thank God.)
