Hope everyone had a great weekend! How did you celebrate Memorial Day? Family, friends, burgers, brats, parades, pools?
 
At our house we ate too much, played a lot of patriotic tunes and, in keeping with the theme of the holiday, watched The War Horse. Which, OK – didn’t feature any Americans. And was mostly about a horse. And did have a rather fantastical ending. But the cinematography and battle scenes were awesome! We really enjoyed it.
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On the other hand, some folks in Chicago found an unusual way to commemorate the occasion. Sounds like things got a bit heated: 10 slain, dozens injured in weekend shootings. The Chicago Tribune reports that this was twice as many killings as occurred on Memorial Day 2011:

A man was shot dead near a raucous outdoor holiday party in the South Shore neighborhood late Monday night, bringing the number of homicides to 10 during a warm and violent Memorial Day weekend.
 
More than 40 shootings were reported during the four-day weekend. The city has had more homicides and shootings so far in 2012 than during the same time last year, according to unofficial briefing summaries prepared by the Chicago Police Department.

The Chicago Way?
Paging Mayor Rahm Emanuel…
Sad stuff.
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Meanwhile, here’s an organization that came up with a wonderful way to memorialize our fallen heroes and raise awareness of the meaning behind the holiday : “Carry the Load,” a 1700-mile cross-country relay walk:

Clint Bruce – a US Naval Academy graduate, veteran, and former SEAL – founded Carry the Load in Dallas, Texas in 2011 with one singular event in mind. His goal was to put meaning back into Memorial Day. He wanted to give the community a way to share in honoring America’s military heroes and to carry the load of the men and women who gave America their last full measure of service.
 

Just as we will forever remember the service of our fallen heroes, we also have an obligation to remember the families carrying on their legacy. For surviving military families, everyday is Memorial Day. They are the living testaments of sacrifice and of the greatest display of courage that man can offer. At Carry the Load, our ultimate aim is to support them.

To find out more and/or donate to this worthy effort check out: CarrytheLoad.org