The New (Old) Way We Should Do Memorial Day

I am just going to come out and say that I do not like how we "celebrate" Memorial Day. At all.

I know, we see Memorial Day as a happy holiday that actually signals the beginning of the summer holidays. It's the first weekend we can really justify beach trips, summer Fridays, and the like.

I get it. Summer is awesome.

But Memorial Day was never about celebrating the beginning of summer. The holiday is supposed to be for remembering those in the military who died in the line of duty. It's supposed to be a solemn day where we reflect on those lives cut short in the line of duty.

What I don't get is how a holiday that was supposed to be dedicated to the memory of the sacrifice of fallen soldiers became a time to shop your brains out. Everywhere I look, there is another ad from a different company beckoning us to shop offering us some obscene discount or free items for us to shop on a day historically created to honor our fallen.

This shows us two things:

1) We can make (and have made) any holiday about shopping if we want to.

Even one as solemn as this. I mean as far as holidays go, it doesn't get much more grave and serious than this. Yet, even now, many of us are taking our hard-earned cash, or worse, credit, to go shopping on a day that is supposed to honor our fallen but not forgotten sons and daughters, mothers and fathers who died in the military.

Like, what is wrong with us?

And...

2) The blatant disrespect we have for those in the military.

Now as a pacifist down to my core, I abhor violence and war. To be honest, I don't like that any nation even has to have a military, but such is the way of the world. But what I will do is honor those brave women and men who lost lives, lost time with their families, lost their hopes and dreams to keep the borders of this country safe.

Some will say that peacefully kneeling during the nation's anthem is disrespect, despite the kneeling tradition being from the military and being held in esteem as a sign of honor. Those people who say that really don't know what they are talking about. What I think truly dishonors our fallen is this: turning a day that we remember those lost to war and violence and their families into a light and trite shopping day.

For those who have died fighting for this nation, I certainly do honor.

But not by buying another thing I don't need. I think a better way to honor those who have died for our country is to work for peace to make sure that no one else must pay that price. We honor them by voting, by staying active in the affairs of our country, we can gather together with family and friends and enjoy the day knowing someone else paid for it. We honor them by standing up to injustice, no matter how high in office from whence it comes. We honor them by living in the rights they died for.

In more tangible ways, we can volunteer at a vet hospital or home, we can reach out to service currently arriving and send them a care package or words of love and appreciation, showing love and support to homeless veterans (which is literally the most shameful thing I have heard of), volunteer to clean up a vet memorial park or simply visit one.

Anything other than buying more things for ourselves.

This Memorial Day, I won't be shopping. I encourage you to do the same.

Happy Memorial Day.

This post was originally posted on May 29th, 2017, and has been edited to be current.