Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C. Debbie took this picture on our trip to D.C.

This is a picture to remind us of the beautiful country we live in. Memorial Day is a time to think about all our Military men and women have sacrificed in order that we can enjoy this beautiful, free country. I will be spending the weekend with Dan and Heidi so I wanted to write something before I leave. The last time I tried to spend the weekend with Dan and Heidi was at Thanksgiving. I got really ill and had to come home early. I had Broncitis. This weekend should work out fine as it is supposed to be warm and sunny.

Just so I have something to write about, I decided to write a little information about Memorial Day. I think some people view Memorial Day as the beginning of Summer and labor Day as the beginning of Fall. We need to stop and think about what these Holidays really mean.

The Origins of Memorial Day--------

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of former Union Soldiers and sailors--the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR)-established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Maj.Gen. John A. Logan declared it should be May 30. The first large observance was held that year at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. The cemetery already held the remains of 20,000 Union dead and several hundred Confederate dead.

Presided over by Gen. and Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and other Washington officials, the Memorial Day ceremonies centered around the mourning-draped veranda of the Arlington mansion, once the home of Robert E. Lee. After the speeches, children from the Soldiers' and Sailors' Orphan Home and members of the GAR made their way through the cemetery, strewing flowers on both the union and Confederate graves, reciting prayers and singing hymns.

In 1966. Congress and President Lyndon Johnson declared Waterloo, N.Y., the "birthplace" of Memorial Day. There a ceremony on May 5, 1866, was reported to have honored local soldiers and sailors who had fought in the Civil War. Businesses closed and residents flew flags at half-mast. Supporters of Waterloo's claim say earlier observances in other places were either informal, not community-wide or one time events.

By the end of the 19th Century, Memorial Day ceremonies were being held on May 30 throughout the nation. State legislatures passed proclamations designating the day. It was not until after World War 1, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who died in all American Wars. In 1971 Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, and designated as the last Monday in May.

The origins of special services to honor those who die in war can be found in antiquity. The Athenian leader Pericles offered a tribute to the fallen heroes of the Peloponnesian War over 24 centuries ago that could be applied today to the 1.1 million Americans who have died in the nation's wars: "Not only are they commemorated by columns and inscriptions, but there dwells also an unwritten memorial of them, graven not on stone but in the hearts of men."

Everyone, have a wonderful weekend!