Happy Memorial Day

Both my grandfathers fought in WWII, but the meaning of military holidays didn't really mean anything to me until this year. Now, two years almost to the day since my grandfather died, I have a much bigger reason to care about our troops. My oldest nephew Billy, who is four years younger than me and one of my best friends, is in basic training for the US Army.

He's hoping to get stationed in Germany or Japan, but I and the rest of my family worry nonetheless. I've never been extremely pro-military, but in this case they're giving a young man who didn't have certainty about what he wanted to do a path, something to strive for, and for that I'm grateful.

Happy Memorial Day, everyone. I'll be in the pool thinking of the blond kid who used to play cops and robbers with me out there. Who helped me snake to the front of every line to get the new Harry Potter book and who is now out in the woods in Missouri somewhere being taught how to turn being a great boy into being a great man.