Paxety Pages

I've lived in several states and each has almost exactly the same story.  Two old ladies, either during or just after the Civil War, were visinting the grave of someone who died in the war.  They decided it would be nice if there were a day to honor all of the war dead. They promoted the idea, and eventually their home state began to observe it.  I suspect the story is relatively true in each of the states - it was one of those ideas that seems to crop up in several places at the same time.

At any rate, Memorial Day (called Decoration Day in the north) was a state holiday, not a national holiday.  Many of the Northern states picked May 31 as the day of observation.  You'l find many who argue that the Southern states refused to recognize Memorial Day.  That's just wrong.  The Northern states picked May 31 because that was a time of year when flowers bloomed. Folks then, as now, wanted to decorate the graves with flowers.  The flowers bloom much earlier in the South - thus Southern states picked dates in earlier May or April. The farther south the earlier the date.

Memorial Day was not a national holiday until 1971.  President Nixon designated the last Monday in May as the holiday, and at that time, everyone in the country observed it on the same day.

I have a hard time thinking of Memorial Day as a holiday.  I have a hard time associating celebrate with the day. It's a day to observe the sacrifice our men and women made in making this country what it is today.  They deserve a place of honor, and this is the day to remember them.