A Day of Sighing

Memorial Day is one of those bitter-sweet days when we sigh with the memory of our honored dead; and we swell with pride for this country they died for. From the Department of Veterans Affairs:

"Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — 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. Major. Gen. John A. Logan declared that Decoration Day should be observed on May 30.

It is believed that date was chosen because flowers would be in bloom all over the country.

The National Moment of Remembrance encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation. As Moment of Remembrance founder Carmella LaSpada states: “It’s a way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day.”

Sometime today we will take peonies to my mother's grave in Omaha. She was interred with 55 others who donated their bodies to the Nebraska Anatomical Board in 1996.