Its just another day, right? But it should be a somber day. A day to remember those who have fallen. We should think of the men and women who have lost lives fighting for our country. But most of us don't.Memorial Day is a day off of work. It is a day to party and grill and be outside. Its the beginning of summer.
And its true meaning has been lost along the way. The graves of soldiers often go undecorated, forgotten. We don't march in parades to show support of their families, and for the losses. We don't bow our heads in their remembrance. As a whole the day slowly fades into nothing.
But we should be doing something. We should don our red, white and blue clothing or maybe black and walk down the street with a color guard somberly.
Upon researching observances in the Phoenix metro area, I came across only about ten. For the entire metro area! Its appalling I think. They were mostly this morning, and so we won't be attending any. Had I known earlier- had I thought about it- had I not been trying to clean up the house a little because it was driving me nuts- we would have gone. But now? Maybe this afternoon I will load the kids up and drive to a cemetery. I doubt I will, we'll probably just go to the grocery store. But in my head I will be thinking about this day. And wondering how I can make it a more somber and meaningful day next year.
2 comments:
I think to some extent, just living our lives, enjoying the freedoms and prosperity those soldiers earned us, does some honor to the day. It is a good thing to take the time to attend an observance or do something special, but maybe with small kids (motherhood does something for the country's future, too) you can give yourself a pass and promise for now to mark the day differently as they get a little older.
I agree that making it a three day weekend tends to take away from the overall day of remembrance.
In Britain we have remembrance Sunday in November, and the fact that the weather is usually prety grim, and that fact that it is a Sunday seems to emphasise the message more. We also buy little paper poppy's to wear to raise money for veterans, and this also makes us think of the fallen soldiers.
It is a day that definitely means a lot to me but I too have a hard time associating it with remembrance when it forms part of a holiday weekend.
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