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All of us have probably forgotten some days that we should have remembered. Special days like birthdays or anniversaries. I doubt any of us forgot our wedding day, on the day of our wedding, but I do know of a couple of pastors who forgot about a wedding they were to perform.

No doubt, we’ve probably had those days that we would like to forget. Last Saturday started out to be one of those days for me. I had been invited to be part of the lineup of musicians and gospel singers to perform for a benefit outing in Jacksonville, Alabama. I, as my Bro Billy Bob character, was to be the comic relief in the middle of some serious gospel singing.  As it turned out, nobody was laughing Saturday, including me.

I had my instruments all tuned up and ready, including my newest two-stringed canjo made from a Quaker State motor oil can and my newly built tin-can howler.  I even bought a new pair of white jeans for the outing, because the ones I wore before my heart surgery are now too big. If I could have found my suspenders, I probably could have worn them, but without suspenders I was afraid my program might accidently become adult rated. At best, that might have been funny, and at worst it would have been frightening! I also missed an opportunity to attend a family reunion and cook out to be there.

We made the two-hour trip to Jacksonville with no problem. Last year’s event had been cancelled due to rain. Once I arrived there, I discovered this year’s event had been too, but the difference was I was notified last year. It turns out that the event coordinator had called my old work number and not my cell phone. After I sent him a text, he called to explain what he had done and profusely apologized.

Well, what do you do when life give you lemons? You make lemonade! I wanted to pitch a fit. I wanted to give somebody a piece of my mind, but I knew I didn’t have enough left to make the sacrifice! Even though our plans abruptly changed, it turned out to a lovely day that I no longer want to forget. Jean and I love to stroll through antique stores and malls and find stuff that we don’t need. We often find items we can repurpose and sell in our booth. I found some cool old tin cans that I can use to make more canjos or howlers. We also enjoyed a scrumptious lunch at a new café in Wedowee that we had never stopped at. We got back home in time to have coffee on our back porch with friends who came over. We would not have had time to do any of those things if the program had gone on as planned.

This coming weekend is a long-holiday weekend that we must not ever forget. Next Monday is Memorial Day. That is an annual national holiday to help us remember those who sacrificed their lives for our country. Our nation was born out of sacrifice as 4,435 Americans died fighting in the American Revolution for freedom from England. Since that beginning, hundreds of thousands have died for our country, including over a half million in the Civil War and over 400,000 in World War II. On at least one day of each year, may we never forget those who gave their all so we all might have liberty! Happy Memorial Day and please don’t forget those who died for our nation.