To the Editor:

The Rev. Chuck Worth’s letter to the editor (“True meaning behind Memorial Day,” May 29) states rightly so that Memorial Day is not about picnics, parades, car sales, etc., but a day we honor those who have given their lives so that we might have the freedoms we enjoy.

Maybe the day ought to be about us loving them as they have loved us.

Our first Boykins community Memorial Day service was held in the spring of 1915 when we honored not only those men and women who have given their lives, but also those who have given of themselves to establish our community.

Citizens placed flowers on those graves whose kin were unable because of distance, and that is still done today.

This year was the 97th Memorial Day service, and we recognized those of the armed services and also those who have given of themselves to establish this community.

The teachers, students, preachers, farmers, merchants, medical professionals, lawyers, builders, trainmen, firefighters, policemen, mayors, and, yes, the lowly wage-earners who have had a part in forming our town.

By welcoming old friends who have traveled from afar to pay respects to those buried here and to say how-do to our next-door neighbors, we form a continuity of life.

This also is about “loving them as they have loved us.” It is a time of renewing old friends and forming new ones.

It is also a meaningful experience as we show honor to the dead and love for our fellowman.

Kitty Lassiter
Boykins