We are mere hours away from the unofficial weekend starter of the summer. On a normal Memorial Day weekend, my neighborhood would be abuzz with lawn mowers and the smell of grilling meat. My neighbor Dave would be washing his car and playing classic tunes loudly as he did so. (I like the same kind of music, so I love to be outside when he is washing his car). Families would be gathering together this weekend. Neighborhood kids would be playing together and their laughter would echo across backyards. That is what a normal Memorial Day weekend feels like. Will it be that way this year?

This has been far from a normal year. It seems like we have been hiding behind closed doors and have lost the entire spring season in the process of staying away from each other to stay healthy. It seems that we have been wearing masks out in public to the point that we can’t remember the last time someone walked past us and smiled. I have been listening to people talk about their stifling unrest. I get the sense that people are more than ready to get out and do the things that make them feel alive once again. That includes the freedom to go where you would like, with whomever you like, to do whatever you like. I get the feeling that this Memorial Day weekend is where it all begins again because people are waking up to the fact that their independence is being threatened.

Speaking of freedom, take a moment and reflect on the three holidays that make up summer. Each of them has a different emphasis on the freedom we have as Americans.

The first freedom is remembered on Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a holiday to honor the heroes in our military who have given their lives to protect our liberty. We respect the war dead on this special day by flying the flag at half-mast from sunrise until noon. Then the flag is raised briskly to full mast to honor the living active duty military and veterans among us. At sundown, the flag is slowly lowered. Our summer kicks off with a salute to freedom - paid for in blood.

Independence Day – or the Fourth of July as we call it – is a salute to our self-determination and a way of life that affords us such freedoms as being able to worship as we want, to speak up to say what we want, to write and publish our opinions, to peaceably assemble, and to address any grievances we have to our elected officials – all without government interference. These rights, and so many more, make the American freedom experience unique in our world. The second freedom is our guarantee of civil rights.

The third freedom is remembered at the end of the summer on Labor Day. It is the freedom to work and earn a living. You are not tied to what you do for a job. You have the freedom to do something else, to learn new skills, to start a business and create a career. We call our economy a "free” market, meaning it is regulated by supply and demand, not government controls. You are free to work.

What happens when those freedoms are threatened and we get a little taste of what life would be like without them? We get out of sorts in a big way. So on this Memorial Day – the first of our summer holidays honoring our liberty - I hope that we take a step out from behind the locked doors, take off the face masks, and remember what it is to be free people once again.