Sunday’s Takeaway: Let’s Remember Who We Are

We celebrate the Memorial Day Holiday by taking a long weekend of partying and relaxing amongst friends and family. However, let’s remember why we have this chance to celebrate, and ironically, say “Happy Memorial Day.”

Maybe Memorial Day, by itself, is the culmination of the weekend’s indulgence when we sit back and remember just how lucky we are to see the rise of USC’s football team. So please, remember, as you look ahead to Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams leading the Trojans into the playoffs, say thank you for the opportunity.

“Thank you,” are the only two words necessary.

Thank you to the men and women who put their lives in harm’s way making the ultimate sacrifice. We should honor them just like we honor our Trojan Warriors when we said thank you to them with our cheers and Fight On’s.

Ricky Bell, Junior Seau, Charles White, Kevin Ellison, Darrell Russell, Mike Bastianelli, Drean Rucker, Mario Danelo. The list of fallen Trojan heroes is so long and illustrious, it would take hours to ring the Victory Bell once for each of them.

And that’s the irony when we’re celebrating the ones we love and cherish who are dead.

Death isn’t a happy occasion, although, it does give us chances to remember the times shared. It’s a time to remember every smile brought to our faces with a win. Or remember the weight of a loss from barely an ounce of the pain they felt.

Memorial Day honors those service men and women who lost their lives while defending their country. So I understand if some feel awkward comparing a fallen soldier’s life to a battle on the football field. It appears trite.

It is.

However, our military heroes did it because they loved the stuff they were defending back home.

Among other things, it was their way of saying “thank you” for college football, baseball, hot dogs, and apple pie.

Over the three-day weekend, many people travel to visit friends and family.

We’ll attend events rang­ing from beach parties to neighborhood picnics, to large sports competitions such as The Indianapolis 500 which attracts an estimated 300,000 people on the Saturday before Memorial Day.

USC fans have no excuse not to say thank you.

Trojans and their fans are constantly reminded about the significance of Memorial Day every time they step foot inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The building was built to honor those who made the sacrifice so we could watch the sports competitions.

Remember the significance behind the 4th quarter’s Lighting of the Torch.

Memorial Day and celebrations actually belong together.

We celebrate and decorate our homes with the Trojan colors by adorning Cardinal & Gold flags.

Here’s a little history lesson for everyone; Memorial Day’s original name was “Decoration Day.” It was a day when people would decorate the grave sites of their fallen loved ones with American flags. By the turn of the century, almost every state declared “Decoration Day” an official holi­day.

We do the same thing today that was started back after the American Civil War ended.

Losing the ones we love hurts. And it should. It means you lost someone you cared for deeply. But eventually, the pain lessens, scars are formed, and we’re reminded about who we are.–What made us who we are.

Maybe it isn’t ironic.

Memorial Day is when spring flowers bloom into a life full of colors.

Colors representing life bring smiles to our faces and a little sadness when they’re gone. Kind of like when the sports seasons.

This is why it’s important to remember who we are and what we’re all about. We may choose to root for teams that wear different colors. But we all should be thankful for the one flag that allows us to make our choices.

Thank you to everyone who sacrificed before me, and thank you to those who will in the future.

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