Memorial Day is an odd holiday. Some people visit graves. Others barbecue at the beach. Still others go see movies with 300-million-dollar budgets. Veterans, families of soldiers, and people who’ve lost someone recently feel it more keenly. The last monday in May marks the start of summer, and therefore the last opportunity (or is it the first?) to wear white (pants? shoes?) — obviously, I probably violate that fashion rule. But wait: I don’t own any white pants, skirts or shoes, so I must be okay at least half of the year, though which half I don’t know.
I’d like to hear your stories about a soldier or a friend or a sister, or teaching your kids about death or ancestors or freedom, or about family traditions of camping or picnicking or remembering the dead together. I’ll post on Sunday afternoon; I hope you find time to write down (if only for yourself and your own family’s history) something you want to remember.
A few Memorial Day facts:
Originally called Decoration Day because it was a day to decorate the graves of soldiers who had died in the Civil War. (Some states continue to have separate Confederate Memorial Days).
Originally fixed on May 30 (rather than the last Monday of May) because it was not the anniversary of a battle.
“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic.” — General Logan – May 5, 1868
The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart. . .should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion.? — Abraham Lincoln – 1861
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