This is dedicated to all those families who just want that one moment on that one day.

The origins of Memorial Day can be found in the hallowed ground of the American Civil War. Decoration Day was established by an organization of Union veterans as a time to decorate the graves of the casualties of that war. Later, the competing Union and Confederate holidays were combined into Memorial Day, so that all who had died in military service would be honored and remembered.

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My father died serving our country when I was 14. It remains a seminal moment in my life that I both struggle to move past and struggle to properly remember. He was born on May 25th. Occasionally the holiday and my father's birthday coincide. It can make for a heavy day of reflection.

But as I say every year, there is no reason that a few moments of solemn remembrance should preclude you from having fun, and Memorial Weekend at the family lake is always fun.

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I tried to get out and fish over the weekend, giving me time to reflect amidst the family fun.

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It was a little tough to find those quiet moments though because the young bass in the lake were fired up.

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I was especially psyched to get the long rod out over the weekend. Learning to fly fish is work. But somewhere in the pursuit to get better, I often stumble into a moving meditation. There are moments of pure bliss, which I know are but small tokens of the sacred joy I'll find when I can dial up my skills at will. I had a few of those moments. A few times when the rhythm felt right, and I let fly with a popper. That popper would hit the spot and I'd start a pulse-pulse-pause strip or some variation and BAM! The water around my popper would jump with life, my rod hand would instinctively rise up and it was on.

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It's in those micro snippets of time that everything else drops away. Fishing is embedded in the human psyche, a skill honed through generations, derived from the necessity for food. I tap into that genetic memory every time my rod bows up and it can be a transcendent bit of magic. It's as if I can touch the collective soul of all those anglers that have come before me. I think about that history a lot when fishing.

The same principle relates to Memorial Day. I saw some folks lamenting, in social media, the reminders about the true meaning of the holiday. As I said above, a spot of remembrance does not preclude you from having fun. Just as my reflections on the evolution of angling do not eliminate the fun in fishing, so the contemplation on those who've sacrificed their lives for this country should not stop the joyous weekend celebration train. In fact, they are intricately connected. Life is not always an 'either, or' situation, and we are not so simple a being as to only be capable of one emotion at a time.

To quote Walt Whitman, "I am large, I contain multitudes"

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Regarding my father, a couple years ago I wrote, "Sometimes we lionize people when they are gone, and sometimes they deserve it." He was in command of a highly skilled Special Operations unit when he was killed. The secretive nature of their missions prevents me, even today, of expounding upon his accomplishments and those of the excellent men who served along side him. My dad was a hero, though not only because of the courageous actions he took in service to our country, but also for the husband, father, friend, and leader that he was in life and still in death. So when people bristle at the idea that I, or anyone, would request that they take a moment to reflect upon the lives that have come before theirs, or the lives lost in service to America, it saddens me a bit. Have we become so cynical, so encased in our own tribal tenets, that we cannot be compassionate?

This world contains multitudes. I can be critical of some of this country's foreign engagements, while also honoring the fallen men and women who have fought in them. You can be turned off by some of the over the top military worship of today, while also recognizing there are days set aside when a bit of reflection, and honoring of that military, is appropriate. You do not have to choose one side or the other. You do not have to accept some label that narrowly defines your complex morality, and you can find moments to reflect upon the true meaning of a 'holiday' weekend, while also having fun. As someone who has fought the grief, and the overwhelming, at times, depression that comes from losing a heroic role model, I know you can do both. I've done it, and I've done it everyday since I was 14. I'm only asking that you do it for one moment, on one day. I'm asking you to find that one window of time, amidst the revelry, to reflect upon the sacrifice that men like my father made. There are heroes in all walks of life, some of them have died in service to our country. Memorial Day is for them and the families that have continued to remember them everyday.

Going forward, please find that one moment.

Thank you.

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We are Americans and we contain multitudes.