The term Decoration Day has all but fallen into complete disuse. When I was a kid, you'd hear it about half the time, and it was always age-dependent. Some parents, more likely grandparents, called the holiday Decoration Day.
If you heard someone say Decoration Day when you knew it as Memorial Day, it was a sure bet you were dealing with an old person. Certainly someone old enough to remember WWI. The mere fact that I can recall hearing Decoration Day makes me an old person, right? Probably so.
The feds years ago declared the last Monday in May as the legal holiday, prior to which it was May 30th, regardless of day of the week. Despite several moves by key senators and congress members to return the holiday to its original date, it hasn't so far happened.
We all have to come from somewhere, everything seems to have a birthplace. And so it is said that a town in our very own state, Boalsburg, is the birthplace of Memorial Day as it exists today.As with most of us, memories of Memorial Days past are many, but they all seem to carry that common theme of the holiday being the unofficial start of Summer.
Sitting, typing, glancing out into our backyard it's pretty darned quiet for the start of Summer, unofficial or otherwise. A distant lawnmower buzzes, a chilly breeze is in the air, and I just had a pleasant gab with a neighbor about how it is none of us is going much of anywhere with the price of gas, today breaking the unprecedented threshold of $4.00 a gallon. Cars are parked and staying parked. I know it's not my fertile imagination; traffic on my road is seriously weak today.
Holidays are looked upon as a time for giving thanks, and generally we do just that. Today, though, my gratitude is mixed with an unsettling feeling that daily life in this country is painful for far too many Americans.
We have a war that shows no sign of ending. The obvious burden of the price of gas is crippling some families. Skyrocketing health care and medication costs have sent many people into a financial tailspin that has yet to end. The world's wealthiest man, Warren Buffet, yesterday went on record as saying a recession will be longer and deeper than anticipated, and that we are indeed in a recession.
Here in our little piece of the world, Luzerne County, PA, property tax reassessment notices are in the mail. By Tuesday, the taxpayer earthquake will have begun on River Street, with aftershocks rumbling for years and years.
Gorgeous day that it is, and having a three day weekend as I do, there's still a nagging sense that things aren't good.
With apologies, and sad to say, for the first time in a long time I am not a very optimistic citizen.
Despite that, happy Memorial Day. Remember those who gave all to us all. Remember those who served, like my Dad in WWII, and this very minute continue to serve. May this day bring you peace and joy.
