Memorial Day weekend 2020
Ever since I was a kid one of my favorite holidays has been Memorial Day. Growing up the day was best known as Decoration Day. It was always celebrated May 30th no matter what day of the week it fell. It was not until 1967 that THE name of the day was changed to Memorial Day and 1971 when it became an official national holiday AND was to be observed the last Monday of May.
Decoration Day marked the ending of school and the beginning of summer. Three months later we looked forward to Labor Day weekend and the ending of summer, the beginning of fall, and the return to school. By Decoration Day my mother would have harvested at least one crop of rhubarb and asparagus out of the garden in our back yard. Many of the vegetables that my father had planted were up and I could look forward to spending many hours in the garden weeding. All of the fruit trees in our yard were in full bloom.
When I moved to High School I associated Decoration Day with parades. I was in the band and the holiday always marked the beginning of the summer marching season. It was a wonderful opportunity for our director to trot out all of the John Phillip Sousa marches we knew to mark the patriotic nature of the day. I especially liked the “Stars and Stripes Forever” with its piccolo solo. Usually with each trip there was an opportunity to enjoy the local community’s celebration of the holiday.
Memorial Day Weekend this year is much different from ones I have known in the past. The actual Memorial Day itself comes as early as possible, May 25, which means that there is still a Saturday and Sunday left in the month. I should probably have written this article last week; however, it felt more appropriate for this week since it comes at the end of the month. The last time Memorial Day was on the 25th was 2015 and the next time will be 2026.
A factor that has made Memorial Day Weekend 2020 very different from any in the past is the need for social distancing. This has eliminated or drastically changed many traditional activities for the weekend. No parades, large community gatherings, or events can be found anywhere in Indiana. No Indianapolis 500 or major league baseball games.
In Genesis we read, “And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.’” (Genesis 1:14, 15a) The Book of Ecclesiastes says that there is a time and season for every activity under the heaven (Ec. 3:1-8). God had created markers to help us along our journey in life. These markers include hours, days, months, years, holidays, recurring events and changing of the seasons. They are intended to give life order, meaning, and a routine. Memorial Day might be considered such a marker.
When our markers and routines become disrupted, our lives can become disorientated. Several times a year a friend of mine from high school who lives in Sacramento, California, calls me. When Milo called several weeks ago he said that he is having trouble telling what day of the week it is. All of the activities which provided him with markers to outline his life had been canceled because of the pandemic. One day seems like the next.
As our nation faces the pandemic, this year’s Memorial Day Weekend serves as a marker to help us orient ourselves within the rhythms, times, and seasons of life under the sun. While I was not able to attend a parade or go to a large gathering of people, I was able to put out my eighteen small American flags in front of my house. On Sunday Diane and I went to visit one of our sons and his family. We took along a rhubarb pie. Monday morning I watched the wreath laying ceremony from Arlington National Cemetery. In the midst of the disruptions caused by Covid-19, Memorial Day Weekend brought back some order.