Two of my favorite events to cover for the newspaper are the Rye High School graduation and the Memorial Day service at the Colorado City Cemetery, sponsored by the Colorado City/Rye Cuerno Verde VFW Post 7305 in conjunction with the Colorado City Cemetery District.
The two events always happen within days of each other. This year the graduation was on Friday and the Memorial Day Service was on Monday, of course.
I think the reason I enjoy covering both events is the contrast. On one hand you have the youthful exuberance and energy of youth. Young people armed with just enough knowledge and a feeling of being bulletproof to go out and change the world.
On the other end of the spectrum, you have veterans in whom physical capabilities have slowed but they have wisdom, maturity, and have paid a price the rest of us cannot imagine.
The young people make me smile. Definitely not a young person any longer, I envy their fire and enthusiasm. I watch as they stretch and strain against the conventional, and look for ways to leave their mark on society.
They cover their uncertainty about what the future will hold with the bravado of having all the answers. Yet, even with that bravado they annually thank their parents and teachers for contributing to who they are and who they might become.
The veterans are generally quieter. They share the lessons they have learned. They look to fellow veterans who paid the ultimate price, their lives, to stand up for something.
They were the youth of generations gone who had the world by the tail and, instead of fulfilling their individual dreams, they devoted their youth, and muscle and energy to fulfilling a debt to the country they grew up in. And it was the fulfillment of this debt that allow the Rye High School Class of 2022 to have dreams with the possibility of fulfillment.
A poem published in March 2015 and called simply “A Soldier” captures some of what I feel on Memorial Day.
A Soldier
He says he's leaving.
He'll be gone about a year.
He's headed off to fight the war,
And his time is drawing near.
I have no words of wisdom
To ease our aching hearts.
He'll be gone and I'll be here,
A thousand miles apart.
The danger that soldiers face,
He knows it all too well.
Still, he keeps our spirits up,
As our throats begin to swell.
The morning comes all too fast;
I'm not prepared at all,
Because I know there is a chance
My soldier won't come home.
My soldier is a strong man,
One that's brave and true.
He's not afraid of dying.
He fights for me and you.
So if you see a soldier,
Give him lots of praise.
Tell him that you're thankful,
You see the price we pay.
Source: https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/asoldier
The passion and persistence and spirit of youth and the sacrifice and wisdom of the veteran. Two beautiful spectrums of life.