The Day the Pool Opens

It's already Thursday. The holiday weekend is almost here. Memorial Day for many Americans signals the beginning of summer. It's a long weekend--a time for hardware and furniture stores to have sales, a time to fire up the grill, a time to have that first weekend getaway of the summer season.

While veterans fought and sacrificed for our freedoms, preserving the liberties America offers, I think obliviousness to the meaning of Memorial Day is a disturbing trend.

As American men and women are serving in our name in Iraq, Afghanistan, and places around the world, Americans should take time to remember what this three day weekend is about.

Pause, say a prayer, fly the flag, and be grateful for the sacrifice fellow American men and women made for you.
From White House Commission on Remembrance:

In 1868, the first Memorial Day ceremony was held at Arlington National Cemetery. Children orphaned by the Civil War were asked to place flowers on the graves of those killed. In 1974, Carmella La Spada, director of the Commission on Remembrance, rekindled that spirit by organizing a children’s tribute for placing flowers in the cemetery on Memorial Day.

WASHINGTON, May 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- On Memorial Day, May 30, at 3 p.m., local time, Major League Baseball games will stop, Amtrak train whistles will blast across the nation and hundreds of other nationwide participants will ask Americans to pause for the National Moment of Remembrance. Mandated by Congress and sponsored by the White House Commission on Remembrance, the Moment unites America in honor of those who died in service to our country.

"The goal is to put 'Memorial' back in Memorial Day," said Carmella LaSpada, director of the White House Commission on Remembrance. "We ask Americans to contemplate those things that bind us - our freedom and those who died to preserve it." said LaSpada.

All citizens, wherever they are at 3 p.m., local time, alone or with family and friends are asked to pause for a Moment of reflection. The Moment is a time of remembrance for America's fallen and to make a commitment to give something back to our country in their memory. The Moment does not replace traditional Memorial Day events; rather, it is an act of national unity in which all Americans can participate.

The National Association for Music Education, Bugles Across America and The Getzen Instrument Company have arranged for volunteer buglers to play Taps for the Moment in places such as hospitals, retirement communities, national parks, thoroughbred racing, bus terminals, nursing homes and beaches. Echoes of remembrance will sound across America.

The idea of the National Moment of Remembrance was born when Carmella LaSpada, Director of the Commission met a group of schoolchildren touring Washington, D.C. and asked them what Memorial Day means. When they responded, "It's the day the pool opens," she became determined to reinforce the meaning of Memorial Day and ensure that those who died for our country are not forgotten.

"The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart. . .should swell into a mighty chorus of remembrance, gratitude and rededication on this solemn occasion."

---Abraham Lincoln