Our neighbors took their kids to a lake or a far-away beach, visited family or friends, or had a picnic in the park on Memorial Day when I was young. Not my family. We dressed in church clothes for the somber ride to the local cemetery. We stood with hands over hearts when the American Legion color guard marched on the road parallel to graves where miniature flags on veterans’ graves waved in the wind. The mournful sound of taps was a bone-chilling reminder of lives lost in wars and those who returned home and lived a long life buried among the fallen heroes.
My mother called the May 30 holiday Decoration Day, the name it was until 1967 when Memorial Day became a legal holiday. And decorate we did. We had lovely roses in our yard—reds and whites and yellows—but Papa never let us cut a single stem. My mother honored that tradition. Every year after the military ceremonies ended, we decorated my father’s grave with homemade tissue paper flowers.
The Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the celebration of honor from May 30 to the last Monday of May. In December 2000, Congress passed another law—unknown by most people—that all Americans should pause at 3:00 p.m. on Memorial Day to honor the fallen.
The Shelter-in-Place mandate continues in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were no parades, no cemetery ceremonies. But there is still time for quiet reflection.
Violet's Vibes 