A special reflection

The Kootenai County resident was commenting on a column in The Press about the sun and skin cancer when he paused for a moment.

He mentioned that two years ago, his 43-year-old son died in California. Skin cancer didn't kill him, but the son was a fair-skinned, red-headed lad and this father was hoping other parents would encourage their children to do whatever they can to be safe.

We're thinking of this brief encounter because tomorrow is Memorial Day. While the holiday's focus for us always is on our gallant generations of the American military and those among them who made the ultimate sacrifice, we're especially mindful of the many parents who have lost children, young and not quite so young, both defending their country and simply trying to make their way in life.

Signing up to serve in our armed forces is an invitation for danger. Members of our military fully understand - as do their parents and other loved ones - that they are willingly putting themselves in harm's way for something bigger and, in their view, more important than themselves. But that does little to staunch the grief when a mother or a father loses a son or a daughter. In the eyes and hearts of many, there is no greater loss than a child to a parent.

This Memorial Day weekend, we embrace all of you who have outlived one of your children. While we pay our deepest respects to the dead, we focus too on the living, on encouraging children to make the best choices they can to live long, healthy lives. After all, isn't that what our veterans died for?