Colliton

strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.’”

The reference to the “late rebellion” of course indicated his leanings to the North. However, both sides of course suffered. The source notes that Logan’s actions “only formalized tributes” that had been going on in both the North and South since before the end of the Civil War.”

According to Turnquist, newspaper accounts of the time show the largest observance in 1868 was at Arlington Cemetery which was attended by President Grant, General Logan and other dignitaries. However, other programs took place around the country including Memphis, Tenn., Baltimore, Md., Richmond, Va., Springfield, Ill. and Philadelphia.

The Old Farmers Almanac noted that in early rural America, the duty of honoring ancestors was usually performed in late summer and served as a gathering point for family reunions and picnics.

The Almanac does note that the ceremonies took on a special meaning after the Civil War. After World War I the recognition spread to include military who died in all American wars.

Memorial Day was designated a national holiday by act of Congress in 1971 and is now celebrated on the last Monday in May.

One of the interesting symbols of Memorial Day is the red poppy. People would buy and wear red poppies or imitation poppies in honor of the day. This was thought to have come from an American woman, Moina Michael. The red field poppy was considered one of the first plants to grow from former battlefields.

The practice of wearing red poppies was believed related also to a poem written in 1915 by a Canadian soldier, John McCrae who saw the poppies during burials around his artillery position in Belgium.

They symbolize both loss of life and new life “especially in support of those servicemen who were damaged physically or emotionally,” according to the Farmers Almanac. McCrae’s poem reads: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

••• We are the dead; short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.

••• Take up our quarrel with the foe!

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.” Janet Colliton, Esq. is a Certified Elder Law Attorney and limits her practice, to elder law, retirement and estate planning, Medicaid, Medicare, life care, and special needs at 790 East Market St., Suite 250, West Chester, Pa., 19382, 610-436-6674, colliton@ collitonlaw.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and, with Jeffrey Jones, CSA, cofounder of Life Transition Services, LLC, a service for families with long term care needs. Tune in on Wednesdays at 4 p.m. to radio WCHE 1520, “50+ Planning Ahead,” with Janet Colliton, Colliton Elder Law Associates, and Phil McFadden, Home Instead Senior Care.