This weekend, we celebrate Memorial Day. Originally known as Decoration Day, the last Monday in May honors those men and women who died while serving in the military.
Some years, I have let this holiday pass without even a private observance. I don’t want to do that this year. I hope you won’t either. At the bottom of this post, I’ve listed a few ideas for making the most of Memorial Day for your family.
A friend sent these editorial cartoons to me. I love editorial cartoons because the artist communicates so much in a few square inches. I hope these inspire, convict, and bring a smile.
Easy Ideas for Celebrating Memorial Day with Your Family
- Bow in prayer before your Memorial Day cookout and include thanks to God for those that gave the ultimate sacrifice.
- Gather around the computer and watch a great YouTube video like this, this, and this:
- Invite a relative or family friend who served in the military to share a story of a friend who died in the course of his or her duties. If you can’t do this in person, call on the phone and gather around the speaker phone.
- Participate in a flag retirement ceremony.
- Ask your neighborhood property owners association to lower your neighborhood’s flag to half-mast.
- Watch the movie, Taking Chance. (Appropriate for children over age eight. Of course, use your discretion.)
- Buy a book like The American Patriot’s Almanac and read the story behind and the text of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.
- Post an American flag on your blog.
- Buy a simple, ready-made bouquet of flowers from a local grocery store and visit a local cemetery. Find a simple, white headstone of one who died in the military and decorate the grave in the great tradition of Decoration Day. It doesn’t matter if you know the person’s family or story.
Please use the comments below to tell me how your family honored our soldiers.
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