Weekend Wish

Wishing all my friends south of the border a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!


♥

Memorial Day - What Does It Mean To You?

"May thy sweet blossoms never cease to bloom in love and trust and peace"

May 1865

Well, I'm Canadian, and I get the general 'gist' behind the American Memorial Day long weekend, however have never actually looked into the history of this day. The first Memorial Day was designated as May 30, 1868 and was to honour the fallen Union and Confederate soldiers of the US Civil War. It is now traditionally celebrated on the last Monday in May and honours all men and women that have served and given their lives for their country. Memorial Day is formally known as Decoration Day - a time to reflect and decorate the graves and tombs of these brave people. Americans as a whole are a patriotic bunch and probably already knew the above, however I did not know that this Day originated just after the Civil War.

I'm sure that as with our Canada Day long weekend celebrated in May, this US holiday also signals the chance to welcome the warmer months of summer and to perhaps get away from it all.

I hope that if you are going to the cottage, or just staying home, you all get a chance to watch a parade

Memorial Day Parade 1944 (shorpy.com)

Perhaps listen to a couple of veterans speak

(shorpy.com)

and/or pay your respects to one of the fallen who have made the ultimate sacrifice

(shorpy.com)

I want to wish everyone Stateside a most wonderful and safe weekend and also wanted to share this incredible video from MSNBC showing how a group of people and surgeons are basically giving the lives back to gravelly injured soldiers. Heartwarming.

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