As Memorial Day weekend quickly approaches, I am reminded of some of the ways my family celebrated the holiday weekend when I was growing up. Most of the time we would go camping for the long weekend and have a family BBQ at the campground. There were a few Memorial Day weekends I remember traveling with my family to New Hampshire to visit the gravesites of loved ones who had passed and plant flowers for them. Many families celebrate Memorial Day weekend in honoring the service men and women who fought for our freedom who are no longer with us today. My grandfather was a veteran so when we would visit his grave on Memorial Day, we always placed a flag at his grave as well.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and originated in the years following the Civil War. In the late 1860’s Americans begun holding springtime tributes to the fallen soldiers. They would decorate their graves with flowers and recite prayers. In the year of 1966 the federal government declared Waterloo, New York the official birthplace of Memorial Day. Waterloo was chosen because it hosted an annual community-wide event where the local businesses closed their shops and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags. Much like the tradition that is carried out today.
So, however you choose to celebrate Memorial Day, I hope it is filled with great memories of loved ones.
;)
