MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day

A day to remember the people who died while serving in the country’s armed forces.

I know that – sorta.  For some reason, there is a gap in my understanding of Decoration Day/Memorial Day.  Somehow, I missed the part about it being for those that had died while serving in the military.  Did I learn it wrong in school?  Well, after all these years, I have no idea.  My best guess; in my mind, the holiday is what I saw around me. 

My dad served in WW II.  He rarely talked about it.  And only when he and one Army buddy were together.  The war was left behind.  It was not something to be discussed at the dinner table.  It was not something …. it was not something he wanted to remember.  He did not go to Decoration Day services so we did not go either.

My memory associates Decoration Day with families placing flowers in old fruit jars, going to various cemeteries and placing those flowers on the graves of their family.  It was a time to pull weeds around the head stone.  It was a time to tell the annual story about grandpa building a fence and forgetting to put a gate in.  And, of course, he, the horse and the wagon were inside the fence!  These annual stories always brought smiles and tears.  It was a time when families laid their differences aside and honored their ancestors. 

Maybe that is why my idea of Decoration Day/Memorial Day is a bit confused.  History books, society and the news told me one thing but the actions of my parents and family told me something else. 

You would think I would have figured this out when they renamed this day to Memorial Day in 1967.  But honestly, when the name was changed to Memorial Day I was busy being a bride of two years, raising a one year old and trying to make ends meet.  

Where am I going with this?  I have no idea.  I do not know what to write next.  I do not know how to end this.

Oh, yes I do.  I kept the idea of respecting our ancestors.  I moved honoring soldiers, alive and dead, to Veteran’s Day.  That way I was not confused about this day.

There are many things that confuse us in life.  We are a product of what we see in our day to day lives.  What our parents teach us.  What school teaches us.  What we read in the paper and hear on TV.  We get confused because we then pick and choose what we keep and what we do not.

Well, I thought I knew where I was going.  So, here is the deal.  Now that you have read this, think about what you know to be true (Example:  Memorial Day is to honor those that lost their lives while serving) versus what you really want to think (Example:  Memorial Day is a day to honor my ancestors).  Apply that to your faith.

The end.