Note: The following column was published by the Lapeer County Press on Saturday, May 23:

Memorial Day arrives each year with familiar signs of summer: crowded highways, backyard grills, the first long weekend under warm skies. Yet beneath the celebration rests something solemn and enduring — a national pause to remember those who never returned home.

It is often easy within modern life to let remembrance become ceremonial rather than personal. We recite dates from history books, attend parades, lower flags to half-staff, and observe moments of silence. But Memorial Day asks more of us than routine observance. It asks us to consider the human cost behind the freedoms we often take for granted.

The men and women we honor were sons and daughters, classmates and neighbors, newlyweds and grandparents-to-be. They came from small towns and large cities, from farms and factories, from every race, creed and political belief imaginable. What united them was a willingness to place service above self, even at the highest possible price.

Their sacrifice stretches across generations. From the battlefields of the Civil War, where Memorial Day first emerged from communities mourning the fallen, to distant conflicts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and beyond, Americans have fought and died for their country and to protect their fellow citizens through every era. Cemeteries filled with white markers stand as quiet testimony to courage that words can never fully capture.

But remembrance is not only about looking backward. Memorial Day challenges us. Patriotism is not measured solely by speeches or symbols, but by the way we treat one another, strengthen our communities, and uphold the democratic ideals for which others fought.

For Gold Star families, this holiday is not symbolic. It is deeply personal. An empty chair at a family gathering speaks louder than any anthem. A folded flag on a mantelpiece carries decades of grief and pride intertwined. While the nation marks a holiday weekend, many families relive memories that never truly fade. I want to recognize the Gold Star families across Lapeer, Genesee and Tuscola counties, and others throughout our region. The price these families have paid and the pain they feel is immense. We continue to be inspired by their strength, and we truly can never say thank you enough.

Gratitude can go even further than grand gestures when it comes to honoring the fallen. Visit a veterans cemetery. Listen to the stories of those who served. Teach younger generations why remembrance matters. Pause long enough to recognize that liberty has always demanded sacrifice from ordinary people called to extraordinary duty.

This Memorial Day, amid celebrations and gatherings and as our country is poised to turn 250 years old, may we resist the temptation to rush past reflection. The freedoms we enjoy were secured by Americans who believed some things were worth defending even with their lives.

Their names may fade from headlines, but their service must never fade from memory.