(Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection - Editor's Notes by Christina Myer)

I’m as guilty as anyone of thinking about Memorial Day as a happy occasion. There will be an extra day off work; swimming pools will open; there will be good food, parades … festive things. It’s the unofficial start of summer. Students are graduating high school or college and moving on to the next phase of their lives full of hope.

It was that last bit that switched my thinking. Some students are graduating on their way to careers in the U.S. military.

They will join for all kinds of reasons, but each of them will swear an oath upon enlistment, solemnly promising that they “will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God).”

Each of those knows that fulfillment of that oath could very well cost them their lives, yet they are willing, anyway.

And for the rest? What do veterans think of Memorial Day, and what it has become?

Some will take part in ceremonies and those parades. Some will visit cemeteries. Some will keep to themselves, and remember.

Veterans Administration writer and editor Jesus Flores discussed the challenges of Memorial Day in a piece he wrote for VA News.

“I visit my corpsman every Memorial Day,” he said. By that, he meant he goes to Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery and stands for a moment with memories of her, at her headstone.

A day meant to honor those who sacrificed everything can be horrific for those left with their memory. For that reason, Flores took the opportunity to remind veterans of the Veterans Crisis Line (dial 988 and press 1, he says); or free grief counseling available at local Vet Centers and through other organizations.

“To my fellow Veterans, as you visit cemeteries and reflect, know that you are not alone in your grief,” Flores wrote. “Let their memory remind you of the courage and commitment that defined those we lost. To the families and survivors of fallen service members, your loved one’s service and sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

If you are a veteran and struggling this weekend — or just haven’t made a connection yet to your local Vet Center and would like to, you can find it here: https://www.va.gov/find-locations/?facilityType=vet_center.

Memorial Day is about remembering and honoring those who died in military service to this country. It is about respecting and appreciating those who were willing to do something many of the rest of us cannot understand. All we can do is be grateful, and give them at the very least a moment at 3 p.m. to show it.

That shouldn’t dampen your weekend. If anything, it should enrich it, knowing it is because of them you are free to spend these three days any way you choose. Don’t forget it.

Christina Myer is executive editor of The Parkersburg News and Sentinel. She can be reached via e-mail at cmyer@newsandsentinel.com.