Rinaldo

   It's Memorial Day and a day that we should all pause to remember those who sacrificed to allow us all that we have today. Mainly we pay tribute to those men and women who served in the military.
  Those that fight in wars pay a high price. All of them pay with their lives. Some of those lives are  lost. Some of those lives are altered beyond all recognition.
   Every year on this day I remember my father-in-law, Mr. Warren. He came back from the war a changed and somewhat broken man. He worked hard and did his best, but the war had taken it's toll.
  I'd like to talk about the contribution of a man who did not go off to war. His name was Rinaldo. His father had come to the United States from Italy like so many immigrants looking for a better life. Rinaldo's father, Salvatore, came over as a young man with his brother. On one of the first days in their new country, children yelled insults and threw food at them. Salvatore did not understand the words coming out of their mouths. He was amazed by the fact that he had come to a country so rich that people could afford to throw food.
  Salvatore settled in Wisconsin and farmed. He married and began to have children. The second child was a boy and they named him Rinaldo. When he was a young boy, he, his older sister and his parents became naturalized citizens of the United States.
  When Rinaldo was a young man during the Depression he went to work in the Civilian Conservation Corps. The money he earned helping to plant trees, work on improving state parks and other work was sent back to his family. There were 12 children in the family counting Rinaldo.
  When the war started he came back to the farm. They still spoke Italian at home and ate the foods that they ate in Italy, but there was no question about what side they were on. They were Americans. Rinaldo was too old to be drafted and he was needed at home. Two of his younger brothers went off to fight both enlisting in the Navy.
  Even though he did not go off to fight he still contributed. There were crops to plant, and cows to be milked. Food was needed for the soldiers abroad and for the people at home. No one was idle. He worked hard during those years with his sisters and younger brothers.
   Maybe I'm being a little idealistic about those days, but it seemed like people could work together better than they do now. Rinaldo was Roman Catholic, barely educated and pretty rough around the edges. He was also honest, worked hard and did his best for his family. No one looked down on him for his religion or his lack of education. No one thought less of him for staying home instead of fighting. All that mattered is what he did. He contributed what he could.
   A speaker in church yesterday posed a question. How do we thank those who sacrificed, like my father-in-law or worked hard to contribute like Rinaldo? What are we doing with the country that they worked so hard to preserve? Why is it that we seem like so many different factions that bicker with each other instead of one united country? Is there nothing we have in common?
  I have no answers to this. For me, I will remember all those who worked so I could have the opportunities that I have and I will try to make the place where I am a little better than it was.

For Mr. Warren You are missed. You are loved.

For Rinaldo I will not forget.