Be careful of the word free. Sometimes free comes with a lot of work. Free sometimes means sacrifice.

I had an old couch that Sam, my doggy, loved for his bed. It was the only piece of furniture that Sam is allowed to use. It was a sofa sleeper but it was never used to sleep because it sat in the middle of my living room. Anyone who chose to sleep on the sofa sleeper had to endure the parade of people using the bathroom in the middle of the night. Anyone who chose to sleep on the sofa sleeper had to endure the early morning rising of the grandchildren anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. The last time the sofa sleeper was used as an actual bed was when I broke my ankle and was ordered to stay off of my feet.

Because Sam loved that couch his hair loved that couch and the hair would cling for life no matter how much you vacuumed. I thought a nice leather couch would be perfect for my comfort and Sam’s comfort. I could picture myself brushing off the hair easily. However I knew the leather couch was just a dream for the future because of the expense.

Never underestimate the power of women. One day my friend was complaining about the leather couch she had in her living room. She absolutely did not like it. I commiserated about my couch. You could see the light bulb shine in her head. She asked me if I would consider trading couches. Of course I would. I could feel the soft swish as my hand brushed the dog hair off of the leather couch. We formed a plan.

First we needed strong men. We chose my husband and my neighbor. We knew they would come to our rescue if we told them how strong they were and how much we needed their help. So these strong men loaded up my sofa sleeper and unloaded my sofa sleeper at my friends. The leather sofa was also a recliner. It was heavy and long and wide. But these strong men wrestled it out of my friend’s house and into the truck and then they called for re-enforcements to unload this sofa at my home.

This is where “be careful of the word free” comes in. I was so excited about the sofa that I forgot to measure. After wrestling this heavy sofa into my home and trying to get it through the door to my living room the realization came that this free sofa was not going to go through the door to my living room.

I have to give my husband credit. He handled this with grace and dignity and did not raise his voice even once. My neighbor was concerned that I now had nothing to sit on in my living room. We solved the problem by leaving the sofa in the family room. My husband without complaint divided his sectional so I could have part of it in my living room along with another chair from his family room. We solved the problem but the free part came with a lot of hard work.

This is Memorial Day. We live in a free country. That freedom has come with a lot of work and sacrifice. Yes there are some things that are not perfect. Yes, our country does have some problems, but we still live in a free country. Today is a day to honor those who have fought to keep our country free. Many times we take our freedom for granted. We forget about those men and women who have lost their lives because they believed in fighting to keep our country free.

Many of us do not have to work today. Many of us will picnic and party and forget the reason that Memorial Day exists. Take a few moments to remember those men and women that have given us our freedom.