Decoration Day.

Memorial Day has its beginnings from long ago. After the Civil War, mourners in every community in this country decorated the graves of the young men they had lost. One town, Waterloo, NY, closed all their shops on a day in May 1866 so that everyone could visit the  graveyard and place flags and flowers to honor the fallen soldiers.

A former war general spearheaded the effort to create a national day to remember those lost in the war. May 30, 1868 was declared Decoration Day. On that first day, 5,000 war widows placed flowers and ribbons on the 20,000 graves at Arlington Cemetery (Union and Confederate graves).

Over the next years, Decoration Day grew and ceremonies were held in major Civil War battlefields. The holiday was renamed Memorial Day at the end of the century. Some Southern states however continued their own Decoration Days. It wasn't until after World War I that the southern and northern states bonded and Memorial Day became a day to honor all American soldiers from as far back as the Revolutionary War.

In 1971, Memorial Day became a federal holiday to fall on the fourth Monday in May. All across America there are parades to honor and remember all those who gave their lives for our country's freedom. 

My thanks to History.com for the reminder. My thanks to all those who have defended this nation so I can sit here in my comfy chair in my safe comfy house to write this weekly happy mail to you. 

There is so much that we in the good old US of A take for granted. We have the right to complain about our government, we have the freedom to protest without fearing our lives, we have the right to express ourselves in just about any fashion we choose, and yet we fail to see what a glorious freedom that is. 

We have many glorious freedoms. 

As you parade, picnic, or plant your garden this weekend, take a pause and remember all that we do have. Remember all who have gone before us and be thankful for those who currently serve our country.

Last year we visited Pearl Harbor, and as my sons chatted with a vet in his wheelchair, I had to turn away so they didn't see me get all choked up. You know what, I think it's okay to get choked up. If we don't appreciate the sacrifice, we stop appreciating what they fought for. 

Please don't stop appreciating.