{"id":7187,"date":"2015-05-25T07:00:36","date_gmt":"2015-05-25T11:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=7187"},"modified":"2015-05-23T07:55:57","modified_gmt":"2015-05-23T11:55:57","slug":"memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html","title":{"rendered":"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Screen<\/a>Memorial Day\u00a0is more than a long weekend to play. Yes, it is a three day weekend and the grills are firing up. But it\u00a0is a day\u00a0we recognize those who have died while serving in our armed forces. Honestly, it’s not a day of joy and fun\u00a0for many families. It’s a sobering day of remembering those we have lost to the sacrifice of service.<\/p>\n

If your family has been touched by loss like mine has, you pause, remember and pray. Our brave men and women have given their lives for our freedom. I am again, reminded of that loss.<\/p>\n

Until I moved too far away, this is a day I used to visit my brother’s grave. When\u00a0I looked at the small American flag placed on the stone, the military funeral rushes into my head. Memories of his body shipped over seas from a foreign land, a closed coffin draped\u00a0by the American flag and laid in the ground, flood my mind;\u00a0the military officer that appeared in our kitchen on a warm summer day to tell us he wasn’t coming home;\u00a0the shock on the face of\u00a0his wife when we had to tell her of his death; his two-year-old son who couldn’t understand where daddy was and why he won’t\u00a0see him anymore;\u00a0the second born child brought into this world without his father; and the gut wrenching tears and heartache\u00a0we experienced as a family. It doesn’t go away, but lurks\u00a0in the mind to always remind you.<\/p>\n

Memorial Day is a time to remember.\u00a0Are we paying attention?<\/p>\n

This year, I urge you to pause from your hamburgers and hot dogs. Take a moment to pray. Consider a donation to an organization that helps families regroup from loss, and reach out to someone who is experiencing this holiday without a loved one. Just the acknowledgment that our service men and women are not forgotten goes a long way.<\/p>\n

To my brother Gary, you are missed in ways I cannot express. Thank you for your willingness to put your life on the line so mine can remain free.\u00a0And to the many that join me in remembering their loved ones, you are not forgotten! And we thank you for your service.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Memorial Day\u00a0is more than a long weekend to play. Yes, it is a three day weekend and the grills are firing up. But it\u00a0is a day\u00a0we recognize those who have died while serving in our armed forces. Honestly, it’s not a day of joy and fun\u00a0for many families. It’s a sobering day of remembering those…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[914],"tags":[2594,2898,3285],"class_list":["post-7187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-relationships-2","tag-armed-forces","tag-memorial-day","tag-remembering"],"yoast_head":"\nMemorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Memorial Day\u00a0is more than a long weekend to play. Yes, it is a three day weekend and the grills are firing up. But it\u00a0is a day\u00a0we recognize those who have died while serving in our armed forces. Honestly, it’s not a day of joy and fun\u00a0for many families. It’s a sobering day of remembering those…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-05-25T11:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-05-23T11:55:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/11\/Screen-Shot-2014-11-10-at-10.24.42-AM-copy-300x234.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!","og_description":"Memorial Day\u00a0is more than a long weekend to play. Yes, it is a three day weekend and the grills are firing up. But it\u00a0is a day\u00a0we recognize those who have died while serving in our armed forces. Honestly, it’s not a day of joy and fun\u00a0for many families. It’s a sobering day of remembering those…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2015-05-25T11:00:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-05-23T11:55:57+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/11\/Screen-Shot-2014-11-10-at-10.24.42-AM-copy-300x234.jpg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html","name":"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/11\/Screen-Shot-2014-11-10-at-10.24.42-AM-copy-300x234.jpg","datePublished":"2015-05-25T11:00:36+00:00","dateModified":"2015-05-23T11:55:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/11\/Screen-Shot-2014-11-10-at-10.24.42-AM-copy-300x234.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2014\/11\/Screen-Shot-2014-11-10-at-10.24.42-AM-copy-300x234.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2015\/05\/memorial-day-more-than-a-backyard-cookout.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Memorial Day: More Than a Backyard Cookout!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7187"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7189,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7187\/revisions\/7189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}