People say all the time, “Happy Memorial Day.” But Memorial Day isn’t meant to be happy. It is a day of mourning for those who have lost their lives defending this country.
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While it is typically the holiday that kicks off summer vacations, cookouts, camping, and other outdoor summer activities in the U.S., did you know that this day was originally established in 1868? And it was originally set at the end of May because that is the time when flowers are blooming across the country.
So, instead of my regular Monday post, I pause to honor those who have fallen on the battlefields around the world so that I can sit here and write this post.
I am in Lubbock, Texas, helping my sister get settled into her new abode. My regular posts will resume next Monday. For that reason, comments are turned off.
But for now, we pause to remember those men and women who have died protecting our freedom.
Whatever you do on this holiday, never forget the sacrifice.
I am going to show my age by saying that I remember when this holiday was called “Decoration Day.” It wasn’t until 1971 that it became an official federal holiday and the name changed to Memorial Day.
I’m not a big history buff, but I love finding bits and pieces of fascinating historical events that have helped to form us into what we are today.
I discovered that the first time this day was set aside to honor those who gave their lives in battle happened shortly after the end of the bloody Civil War.
(Copied from the History.com website) On May 5, 1868, General John A. Logan, leader of an organization for Northern Civil War veterans, called for a nationwide day of remembrance later that month. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed.
For decades, Memorial Day continued to be observed on May 30, the date Logan had selected for the first Decoration Day. But in 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees; the change went into effect in 1971. The same law also declared Memorial Day a federal holiday.
And there you have it. When I was a kid, we would load up the car and travel from Hobbs, New Mexico to California on May 30th to visit my dad’s family. Those trips were some of my most vivid childhood memories. Little did I know the date had anything to do with veterans or war. For me, seen through the eyes of a child, it was just our time to go to California.
I’ll share a quick story from one of those trips. Let me preface this by saying that our dad did not like to stop. He saw it as a precious waste of time, so all mandatory stops were short and sweet.
We pulled into a service station somewhere in Arizona for gas. That was back in the day when a person came out, filled up your car, checked your oil, and washed your windshield. (And they didn’t even expect a tip!) So, while Dad was talking to the service station attendant, Mom, myself and my sister got out of the back seat to go use the restroom.
As soon as the car was serviced, Dad jumped back in and took off without ever glancing in the backseat. He made it several miles down the road before he realized we weren’t back there. 🙂 Needless to say, Mom was not a happy camper by the time he got back to the station, and she let him know about it the rest of the way to California.
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