This long week-end we celebrate in the United States at the end of May isn't about the beach or the picnics and parties or even the parades. It isn't even about soldiers who are off fighting today. It is about the soldiers of our nation who have fallen in battle. It came out of a bitter civil war-- a war that tore us apart. Decoration Day( as it was originally called) was a way of healing the wound and cementing our unity.
It still is except that today we are not Union or Confederate, we are Liberal or Conservative, Republican or Democrat, or even Socialist or Libertarian and only a few of us are actually out there putting our lives on the line. Memorial Day is still a day when we can put our differences aside and remember that however we differ in our political opinions and visions for our nation, we are all still Americans and the soldiers who have died in every war deserve our respect and we have an obligation to remember them.
Happy Memorial Day everybody
