Please say thank you to men, women who serve this Memorial Day

A photo of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Corey Allen Little leans against his tombstone as volunteers place American flags at the graves of military service members at Georgia National Cemetery before the Memorial Day holiday, Saturday, May 25, 2013, in Canton, Ga. Little, 25, who was expecting his first child, was one of seven Marines who died in a helicopter crash Feb. 22, 2012, while training for a deployment to Afghanistan.
David Goldman — AP Photo

Only 1 percent of the population serves in the military, but nearly all the population takes the day off school or work to celebrate Memorial Day — with the exception, ironically, of the 1 percent.

That’s a generalization — but generally speaking, we can be an ungrateful and ungracious lot.

We often fail to even think of others, let alone express our gratitude. Spend at least part of this weekend thinking of those who have lost their lives in service to our nation, and let others know that you’re grateful for their sacrifices.

In the past few years, we have had one thing reaffirmed to us every week. Despite our society’s reluctance to show gratitude, people like to hear the words “thank you” — even if we don’t say it as often as we should.

Our Thankful Thursday edition has been well received by writers and readers.

At work, we even look forward to Wednesdays now because it’s the day we put the Thursday pages together.

We like hearing how someone paid for another’s meal or went out of their way to help a stranded motorist.

It warms our hearts when the person on the receiving end of the kindness recognizes someone else’s effort.

So today we’re encouraging you to serve a turkey at the family barbecue on Memorial Day. (Not really). But we are encouraging each of us to make tomorrow a Day of Thanksgiving.

It’s a two-step process.

Read more: http://cuckoo.icyboards.net/showthread.php?tid=61#ixzz2URvqwpyl