Week 20 - How I missed Memorial Day

Memorial Day, a day off from work (check), grilling (check), eating, homemade ice cream (check),  napping(check), working (check), snarking, snapping, ignoring, bickering, pretending, pouting, protesting(check),  (check), (check), (check), (check), (check), (check).   Typical holiday, but not the intended purpose of the holiday.

In my defense, I did an obligatory FB post to thank those who served and remember those in my family that had honored their country with their service and all this took less than 20 minutes but I spend the rest of the day immersed in other things, some I enjoyed, but most I did not, and I failed to remember the "Days" intended propose, thus, how I missed Memorial Day. 

Memorial  Day, used to be known as Decoration Day, it originated after the American Civil War to commemorate the Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. By the 20th century Memorial Day had been extended to honor all Americans who have died in all wars. It typically marks the start of the summer vacation season, while Labor Day marks its end (thanks wikipedia for the great info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memorial_Day)

In the past, it was a southern traditon for families to gathered at the grave of loved ones and remember, honor, clean up and plant flowers at the final resting place of loved ones that had died. We had a reunions at the graves of the the patriarchs and matriarchs of the family on the last Monday in May.  We gathered and shared fond memories of the dead, introduced the children and new comers to their ancestors and heritage and we renewed our relationships with the living.  However, we no longer honor the dead or the living for that matter and somewhere along the way we lost our heritage, culture,our tradition but more importantly we have lost something that sets us apart, our southerness.  We traded tradition for convenience and comfort.  It was hard to clean graves in rural hard to reach cemeteries in the summer heat.  Why take our nice cars up that muddy road.  We have lost our sense of community and of family.  We lost our sense of who we are and where we came from.  We have lost the appreciation for the struggle of those gone before us because life is so much easier now.  Somewhere along the way we forgot and do not care to be reminded. 

I am not sure what I will do with this realization now that I have it. I have until July 4th to see if I can process and decide if this is how I will continue. For now, with all my southerness, I honor my g-g-g grandfather, Miles P Penney, Company F. 6th TN Mounted Infantry, (1830-12/25/1877), a Union soldier.