Memorializing

Memorial Day is dying.  I don't mean to pun and I really hate to make the observation, but I honestly believe that the significance of it is slowly being lost in barbecues and pool opening parties.  This might be a good thing if we'd finally found a total and perpetual global peace and the reason to have the day was lost in time, but that's not the case.

We sort of did it to ourselves.  Memorial Day was on May 30th.  It was a day set by to remember those who had served in the armed services and sacrificed their lives protecting our country and everything we hold dear.  In 1968, someone decided that we needed the National Monday Holiday Act, which created a series of three day weekends from holidays being moved to a Monday in close proximity.  This created a block of days off for folks and supposedly caused a reduction of energy and resource use for three days in a row which was measurably better than shutting down for one day in the middle of the week.  They were saying that the holidays involved(Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day) were still significant, just not significant enough to leave where they were. 

We always celebrate Independence Day on July 4th.  We always celebrate Christmas on December 25th, giving this religious observance the reverence of a national holiday.  Thanksgiving was the first unfixed holiday, but it never had a set date, just a set day of the week in November.  New Year's Day, well, you can't really move the first day of the year just because it doesn't work for you.  Government offices are closed on all holidays, excluding essential services (police, fire, medical).  There was a time when everything was closed in observance of these days.  Some will say it's changed out of necessity as our society has evolved.  But really, it's gone the way of commerce, allowing the purchase of just about anything like the holiday wasn't even there and sadly, none of those important calendar dates is immune.

I digress.  Back to Memorial Day's imminent demise.  It's been moved out of convenience, shifted during a time in our history (1971) when we were still involved in the war in Vietnam and young men and women were still coming home in boxes.  It's been ignored by businesses that don't think profit-making should stop in the name of honor.  It's been disregarded by its own people because government and businesses don't care enough about it, so why should they?  It's a day off, a mini-vacation, the unofficial beginning of summer, an excuse to indulge in whatever calls.  It's been trampled and the group of people still involved in the respectful acknowledgment of the day seems to be getting smaller and smaller.

Does it really have to end this way?  Are we eventually going to forget to honor the memory of those in the military who gave their lives protecting all this country has to offer, even on the day put aside for just that purpose?  It's not as though we're in peacetime, Folks, when it's easier to put it to the back of our collective consciousness.  We're still fighting and the sacrificing continues on.  We need to remember and honor those who served.  Whether you do it on the legal holiday today or the original holiday date, make the time, take the time, and never, ever forget.