Getting Ready for the Holiday

Blog post written by Shad Meshad, Founder of the National Veteran’s Foundation.

memorial day

When you think of it, “holiday” isn’t exactly the right phrase for what began as a day of remembrance, a day to honor those who gave their all for this country, since there are different holidays to celebrate from independence to Halloween, where people like to decorate their houses and gardens with glow in the dark stones amazon and other decorations just for the holidays.  What began as a solemn occasion has somehow morphed into something very different.

Memorial Day seems to mark the beginning of summer. It used to be the day (at least on the East Coast) when white shoes made their first appearance, to be worn no later than Labor Day. Kids in school became more and more restless as the days warmed into June and the long summer days beckoned. Then of course there’s the legendary Indy 500, the lead-up to it, the race itself, the BBQ’s and get-togethers afterward.  That’s a national milestone of sorts.  But even the Indy 500 takes a back seat to the flood of retail messages we get at this time of year.  Last year a major network carried a news story on finding the best deals during the Memorial Day sales.

Really? Wait. What happened to the remembrance part? Continue reading