Rant #2,383: Hope and Deilverance

We have finally arrived at the precipice of the 2019 summer season with the coming of the Memorial Day weekend.

Many people have off today, have off this weekend, and have off on Monday, the actual holiday.

But with all the sales and barbecues and baseball and jaunts to the beach and fun, have we lost the meaning of what Memorial Day really stands for and signifies?

Let's go back to Rant No. 970, date May 24, 2013, and see exactly what I am talking about, in slightly edited form. What was said six years ago stands true today.

"Coming up on Monday is Memorial Day, the day we honor those who have served, and gave their lives, for our country in the numerous wars we have fought leading up to our country's creation in 1776 and beyond.

Once known as Decoration Day, the holiday falls every year on the last Monday in May.

In recent years--or for as long as I can remember--Memorial Day has taken on a different meaning.

Not to knock our service men and women--who continue to protect our country from unimaginable peril each and every day--but the holiday means so many other things now.

First of all, many of us have off on that day, including, incredibly, myself.

I personally get so few holidays off during the year that I look forward to Memorial Day like a bee looks forward to the next flower it can pollinate.

Memorial Day also signals the beginning of the summer season.

Notice I say "the summer season," because summer actually doesn't come for several weeks after, in late June. But it signals warmth, hot nights and days, and so the holiday is thought of as sort of a gateway to summer and all the fun that that season brings.

And finally, Memorial Day generally signifies the day when many of us, myself included, have our very first barbecue of the year.

Honestly, I can taste those hot dogs right now! I love to barbecue, so if the weather holds up, it will certainly be my family's maiden barbecue of the year.

Many parades are held during this holiday, and most of them are seemingly precursors to barbecues, so even if we honor our war dead--and again, this is not a knock against any of our service people--we gradually move toward family oriented events during the holiday.

This makes Memorial Day one of the most family oriented holidays on the calendar, and a day we can all look forward to.

For me, Memorial Day represents a brief respite from work, and it comes at a very good time.

I hope it does for you too."

So although we are supposed to be honoring our war dead on this holiday, what we are really honoring is our lives, and what we can do, as a result of their ultimate sacrifices.

Have a great holiday, a great weekend, and I will speak to you again on Tuesday.