Holiday Eve Reflection

May 25, 2018

It's no longer called Decoration Day. Not many outside the south probably even know what a “Decoration Day” is- or that not all of them were mandated holidays. Some of us remember gathering at our churches, having services, eating lunch, then visiting the graves of departed family members. We celebrated those who went before us. Those whose hard work and sacrifice made our various situations possible.

There aren't nearly as many solemn celebrations  like these as there were when I was growing up. But whether you observe it or not, this holiday commemorates much more than the official kickoff weekend of summer. 

Memorial Day was originally designated to honor the Union dead from the Civil War. It was expanded in World War I to include all Americans who died in military service to their country. 

Today, it is more commonly remembered as the weekend of the running of the Indianapolis 500 and/or the beginning of summer. True to that model this year, schools in our area finish today, freeing kids for another summer of fun. Like youth, unfortunately, their summers aren’t as long - or nearly as carefree- as the ones older people like me remember. There are entirely too-many pressures on today’s kids. There are also entirely too-few parents teaching them how to cope with times when things don’t go their way, tragedies happen or they don’t like the way people in charge are doing their jobs. But that’s a topic for another conversation.

Just down the road from our new home in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is the Stones River National Battlefield. Walking its restful vistas, it’s almost unimaginable that 24,645 soldiers were killed, wounded or captured on the same ground where I walk to relax.  

Wandering the adjacent military cemetery, it’s brought into harsh focus by row upon rows of simple white markers. The cemetery’s large- and full- the only soldiers buried there died in the fields where the community bikes, hikes, wanders and watches wildlife. Their sacrifice is brought into focus  when I realize that without their deaths this park wouldn’t exist.

Without the sacrifice of our military, virtually nothing we enjoy today would exist. And this weekend’s the time to remember that- and to remind those who follow us. 

As a Memorial Day tradition, some Americans will visit cemeteries and memorials to place wreaths in honor of fallen friends, relatives and comrades.  It's the weekend that all national cemeteries sprout small American flags. The weekend when my young daughters used to say the “flags are blooming." 

It is the continuation of a tradition of honoring the fallen that dates to the Greeks. They honored their dead, especially their heroes, with chaplets of laurel and flowers. 

We are enjoying this holiday weekend with our families, and hope you have the same privilege. There will be no wires on Monday, but we will be back on Tuesday, May 29, with our full editions. 

Over the weekend, I hope you’ll take a moment to say a prayer of thanks for those who died in service, and will add a prayer of protection for those now serving.

This is the weekend we should remember this truth: "all gave some; some gave all." 

To each of them, our sincere thanks.