Because of you we can get up every morning and go to work run errands at lunch time drive through McDonald’s fill up our gas tanks and make it back to work just in time Because of you we don’t have houses we have homes where we walk through the door the dog jumps on us as do our children we hug our spouses and smell dinner cooking Because of you we have artwork from Kindergarten and shopping lists hanging on the refrigerator along with pictures held up with tape or magnets school pictures, pictures of gramma and grampa pictures of babies, kittens, and teenagers dressed for the prom Because of you we gather around the dinner table play in the backyard with our kids feed the cat, walk the dog splash water on our children in the tub then tuck them into bed with hugs and kisses and reassurance there are no monsters in closets or under beds Because of you with the children asleep and the dishes all done men make love to their wives wives make love to their husbands and drift off to sleep intertwined feeling life is good, all is well and we are safe Because of you we are safe we can sit in fields watching our kids play soccer or in the stands watching our kids play hockey we can grill hamburgers and hot dogs eat potato salad and cole slaw drink ice cold beer and play pool while the kids run through sprinklers Because of you we must remember to have a moment of silence on Memorial Day to remember your sacrifice and your family’s and to thank you that we get to live these lives sometimes eventful, sometimes uneventful but always full of possibilities Because of you This poem is by Lisa Milligan, a writer that lives in Fairfax, VA. She wrote this to show her deepest gratitude to our troops and their families. She was inspired one Memorial Day weekend to remember what that really day stood for and for all the troops and their families that wouldn’t be together that day to celebrate this American holiday in their backyards around the barbeque. It is dedicated to the troops that are fighting today and all that came before them…and all those we have lost.