Monday, May 31, 2021

Remembering Memorial Day


Today is a day to remember those who lost their lives while serving our country in the military.

The Pirates have honored the military with military camo jerseys over the years and I am fortunate to own a few cards of Cutch featuring swatches of these camo jerseys.
Panini has used many of these jersey swatches over the years, but they look best in the brand National Treasures.
Growing up I never understood the meaning of Memorial Day.  I always viewed it as a way to welcome the summer, have a BBQ with friends and family, and if chose to work to get double time and half.  

It's not that I didn't know what the actual holiday's intended purpose was, it was just that it had escaped "hitting home" with me.  A few years ago I stated Happy Memorial Day and someone from the blogging community reached out to me reminding me that the holiday should never be viewed as Happy and that it is a day of somber to remember the fallen.

Since that email, I have always viewed the holiday differently and have never said have a happy Memorial Day again.  I have completely changed my viewpoint on the holiday and try to use my new found understanding of the holiday to share with others.  

So for those of you who are celebrating the holiday in the traditional BBQ and family party mindset, please take a few moments to remember those who lost their lives serving this country to allow us the freedom for such events. 

2 comments:

  1. Amen. I also never understood "Memorial Day" meaning until I got in the Navy. It's always a day that I like to watch great war movies to remember the history of how are Freedom was secured.

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  2. Thanks for sharing the message from that email. I discuss the meaning of Memorial Day with my students, so that they understand why they get a three day weekend every May. That being said... I've made the mistake of saying Happy Memorial Day myself. I didn't mean to offend anyone... I wrap up every post with a Happy ____________ and sayonara! Anyways... I just updated my Memorial Day post from 2014.

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