Rant #2,726: A Time of Remembrance

Labor Day is coming up on Monday, and I have a lot of mixed feelings about the holiday now and forever.
 
The holiday was never one that I looked forward to, because in my previous life as a full-time worker, unlike most people who were having barbecues and swimming and having fun, I had to work on this holiday to get out my company’s major publication of the year.
 
It was difficult work, and I absolutely hated working on Labor Day.
 
But what happened happened, I was out of a job right after Labor Day in 2019, and the holiday took on new meaning for me in 2020, because I wasn’t working anymore, or at least not working full time.
 
But the holiday really took on new meaning for me last year, as on September 7, right on Labor Day, my father passed away.
 
Being that the holiday falls on a different date each year—in 2021, it is on September 6—at least his passing will not actually be on Labor Day each year, but in 2020, it was.
 
So the holiday is a kind of strange one for me.
 
Here is what I wrote about Labor Day in Rant #1,506, dated September 4, 2013, and, of course, it has been edited, simply because most of what I wrote spoke about my having to work on that day each year, and eight years later, that is pretty much a moot point.
 
“Happy pre-Labor Day to everyone!
 
Labor Day does not just honor the workforce, but it also signals the end of summer for most people.
 
Even though we still have a couple of weeks on the calendar before summer actually officially ends, Labor Day tells people that for all intents and purposes, the summer is over.
 
School begins, or has begun for most students, when Labor Day comes, so that also signifies that the fun times are over and the more studious times are here.”

 
And this year is even a more convoluted holiday than normal, as the Jewish High Holy Days begin with Rosh Hashanah at sunset on Labor Day, September 6.
 
This is the most holy and religious time for observant Jews on the yearly calendar.
 
It is s time of reflection, a time of penance, a time when we take account of how we have handled ourselves during the past year.
 
It is a holiday where we look both inward and outward, and we ask God to allow us to continue to mature as human beings into the coming year.
 
This period culminates on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar, which begins at sunset on September 15.
 
Last year’s Rosh Hashanah observance was very difficult for my family, as my father had just recently passed, but we got through it, and I think this year’s observance will be equally difficult, because it comes a day before the one-year anniversary of his passing.
 
But I know that my family and I will get through it, but it will be difficult.
 
On top of everything, we have the unveiling of my father-in-law’s grave in just a few days on September 12. He passed away last December, meaning that my son lost his two grandfathers within just a few weeks of each other.
 
So yes, this Labor Day and High Holiday season is going to be a bit difficult for my family and I, but we will get through it.
 
No, we won’t be having barbecues and swimming and enjoying the holiday, but we will get some type of solace remembering not only what the days mean, but most importantly for us, those who are not with us.
 
So goes life.
 
I am going to take the day off on Monday, so I will speak to you again on Tuesday.
 
Have a great holiday weekend, and please keep my family and I in your thoughts.
 
Thanks.