Rant #2,665: A Day of Remembrance

Get the barbecues out, get the swimsuits on—
 
It’s Memorial Day Weekend!
 
Yes, I do it too.
 
I kind of forget what Memorial Day is really all about, and it really isn’t about the unofficial beginning of summer … but in a strange way, it is all about that.
 
We have lost thousands upon thousands of young men and women who have served our country in the armed forces and who have fought, and paid the ultimate sacrifice, in wars and other conflicts that have sought to preserve our country and what our country stands for.
 
And what our country stands for is freedom, and if they have fought—and died—to preserve that freedom, when we do fun things on Memorial Day, in a strange way, we are saluting them for what they have done and the sacrifices they have made.
 
I guess I am trying to justify the fact that probably three-quarters of our population has no idea what Memorial Day really means and really signifies, but it is what it is.
 
Let's go back to Rant No. 970, dated May 24, 2013, and see exactly what I am talking about, in slightly edited form.
 
"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 from work on that day.
 
Most people get so few holidays off during the year that they 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.”
 
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 are able to do, as a result of their ultimate sacrifices.
 
In my neck of the woods, there probably won’t be too many barbecues, because the weather is supposed to be rainy and not too nice.
 
But at least we get the freedom to choose what we want to do on that special day.
 
So when you really look at it, Memorial Day is a special day, a day of freedom that is permitted because our service men and women have always gone the extra mile to make it so.
 
Let’s salute them on this day, and never forget the sacrifices they have made to enable us to live the lives that we do in the greatest country in the world.
 
I, too, will take Monday off, so I will speak to you again on Tuesday.
 
Have a great weekend and a great holiday.