05/25/2026
Today is Memorial Day — and for many of us, it is not a day of barbecues and long weekends.
It is a day of names, of faces, of moments we carry with us that no one else can fully see.
For every member of our community, this day arrives differently. Some of us feel grief that is sharp and immediate. Others feel a quiet, heavy weight that is hard to put into words. Some feel guilt for still being here. Others feel anger. Many feel all of it at once.
There is no right way to experience today.
What we do know is this: the people we lost were not just soldiers. They were friends, mentors, battle buddies, and family. And their absence leaves a specific kind of hole that doesn't close with time — it just becomes something we learn to carry.
If today is hard for you — reach out. To us, to a fellow veteran, to someone who gets it. You don't have to explain yourself. You don't have to perform grief, and you don't have to hide it either.
We hold space for all of it today.
To every service member we've lost — we remember you. Not just today, but every day.
And to every member of this community still standing — we see you, and we are grateful you're here.
