A few minutes to remember

This weekend is Memorial Day Weekend, and for many of us, this weekend signals the beginning of summer activities like picnics, vacations and baseball or softball games. It may be the weekend you clear your land of weeds or plant the garden; or take a long motorcycle ride or a session on the chaise lounge with a good book. It might still be cool in our mountains (and snow is not really ever out of the question) but it’s a weekend that many (including me) like to think “outside” more and more.

I also like to remember that along with all the celebrations of summer and fun things to do, the Memorial Day Weekend should also be what it was intended to be: a time to remember those who have died in the service of our country.

From my research I’ve learned that no one really knows exactly when or where Memorial Day (officially known as Decoration Day) really started. Over two dozen cities claim to have been the first with remembrance rituals, but there isn’t one that is universally agreed upon.

Women’s groups in the South started decorating Confederate graves before the Civil War ended, but Decoration Day was officially proclaimed on May 5, 1868, by General John Logan, the national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. The first official observance of the Day was later that month (May 30, 1868), when flowers were placed on both Union and Confederate soldiers’ graves in Arlington National Cemetery.

It wasn’t until after World War I that the holiday was changed from just honoring those who fought and died in the Civil War to honoring all Americans who had died in all wars. Those feisty Southerners didn’t acknowledge the original national day of remembrance at the time — they honored their fallen Confederates on separate days (and each state has its own day). Now, though, most of them do observe the national holiday as well.

In 1968, a hundred years after Memorial Day was officially proclaimed and observed, Congress changed the official “day” to the last Monday in May, thereby ensuring a three-day weekend for us all.

It is easy to take our freedoms for granted these days, and hard and not altogether pleasant to remember that that freedom was won and kept with the blood of fellow Americans. It’s hard for us to imagine that those names on the walls or the tombstones are names of people much like ourselves; it is also hard for us to imagine being willing to die so that others can keep having picnics and parades.

So I’m asking you to stop for a few minutes and remember the men and women who have given their lives so that you can have the life you now have. And maybe think about what you would be willing to do — or do without — to keep the freedom you have. Hundreds of thousands of strangers have died through the years so that you can live a life of freedom in America — would you be willing to do the same for someone else? Would you do the same for yourself?

And while you’re taking those few minutes, remembering, I also ask you to say a prayer of thanks for those souls who died for you. And I ask you to make a promise to keep the ideals of freedom alive so that their sacrifice will not have been in vain.

That’s worth at least a few minutes of your time today, isn’t it?

© Copyright 2017. Mel White, a local writer/photographer, has been writing “On the Bright Side” columns for various newspapers since 1996. She is also co-owner/founder of the unusual and eclectic Treasure Trove in downtown Tehachapi; she can be reached at [email protected]