When you mention Memorial Day most kids and even adults consider it the kick-off to summer.  There are special menus, BBQ’s, pool parties, horse shows, fireworks and a day off from work, but Memorial Day is so much more.

 Memorial Day was originally called Decoration Day and was observed on various days throughout the month of May by ladies honoring the Union dead after the Civil War.  Southern Ladies with their pride also picked dates to honor their own Confederate dead.

 It was not until after WWII, that our government made Memorial Day a Federal holiday in which set aside time to honor all of those who have given their lives for our country.

And they definitely deserved to be honored and remembered!

For several years now, before any BBQ or pool party each Memorial Day, we take our children to place flags on our family member’s graves from generations past from the Civil War Era through Vietnam.  It’s important that they respect and honor those who sacrificed to much to defend their right to be here.  This year we are too far away from close family cemeteries, but my years of genealogy have taught me much, including the fact that my family moved to Alabama from South Carolina in 1821.  One of my ancestors is buried in CowPens National Battlefield Park, just miles from our home.

 

 

Nathan Byars.

He is the one we honored this Memorial Day weekend as he fought for our right to be free from the rule of another.  He fought for our independence and democracy as a soldier in the Revolutionary War.

Before you take that first bite of BBQ or splash in the pool, celebrating the beginning of summer, Take time to pause.