Memorial Day weekend is almost upon us.
What does a three-day weekend have to do with the City of Green River? Perhaps looking at the history of Memorial Day can help answer that question. Throughout the history of mankind, various people have visited the final resting site of their loved ones and family. Memorial Day in the United States has its beginnings with the Civil War. In the early 1860s various groups of people began a yearly observance to honor the fallen veterans by placing flowers on their graves. Some were war widows remembering their loved ones and others were former slaves decorating the graves of Union soldiers who had died in confederate prisoner of war camps. These events started to be known as Decoration Day and by the end of the 1860s they were regularly celebrated in the month of May throughout the United States.
What started as an observance to honor more than 600,000 departed veterans from a bloody conflict that divided a nation soon became a spirit of community to remember all veterans, and by the 20th century all of our departed loved ones. It is this spirit of community that we should remember on this Memorial Day. We should reflect upon the spirit of service, the sense of duty and the willingness to sacrifice on the part of those that passed on before us. For you see, those that came before us were family, they were friends, they were neighbors and they all were a product of their communities. Enjoy Memorial Day, spend time with friends, spend time with family or relax after work if your shift demands you work over the weekend. But also take a moment to drive up North 1st East in Green River, around the curves, beneath the interstate and through the gate.
Step out of your truck or car, close the door and ignore your cell phone. Look upon brightly colored flowers placed upon a sea of green amidst a garden of stones. Reflect upon the number of flags placed upon the final resting place of those that took the time to serve their country, to sacrifice a part or all of their life to provide a community, safe and prosperous in which each of us could live. Then walk, while listening to the whispering voices of the breeze in the trees and ponder what has been done for you by your family, your friends, your neighbors and your community. Enjoy the warmth of companionship in those memories and the tug at your heart strings remembering those that you too have lost. Be thankful for those, known and unknown that went before you and then ask yourself, what can I do to honor them beyond a flower or a flag upon a grave? Be a vital part of the community that they lived and died to serve and to establish. Take the time to participate in your community, start that business you see we need, go to that festival you have never been to before, volunteer to lend a helping hand, say hello to that neighbor with whom you have never spoken, and most of all participate in life because one day someone will have the chance to place a flower upon the ground where you also will take your final rest.
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