Clarity about Memorial Day
Rufus (Ward) again delivered on his piece about Memorial Day on Sunday. Although I have no similar story, I had often wondered why we celebrated this April holiday in the Month of May. Deep into May. So, I posed this query to my (late) father, Ben.
The explanation was more enlightening than I had expected. First, back in the Reconstruction after the Civil War, the term “April showers bring May flowers” was a Yankee saying. Our benevolent Southern Belle ladies in 1866 had only the blossoms from their yards to work with at Friendship. Our flowers bloom in late April. With no florists, flowers were a scarce commodity. Heck, even if for sale, everyone in Columbus was too poor to buy them then.
Dad went further and said there were Yankee ladies from Pennsylvania that were trying to hijack our Day. It was then that this Veteran told me about some of his friends from the Greatest Generation that did not come home. Welling up in this story was the story about a fellow lieutenant from Pennsylvania that went to the Far East with Dad’s unit, but did not come home with Dad.
Then there was the stark realization that this best of all holidays was for our protectors, in every conflict, who did not return home. Rufus correctly says this day is more than a reason to consume barbecue and beer. We need all take time, wherever in this country/world, to take time to thank our lucky stars that the servicemen/women who paid for our freedom are reverently remembered. Many would order a Bud, eat a rib, and insist that we do the same.
David Owen
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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