Memorial Day – Remember and Honor the Fallen – Embrace Grieving
In honor of those who have served and paid the ultimate price of death and especially those who they have left behind. We dedicate this blog to you on this Memorial Day weekend.
Memorial Day is a day to remember. Remember the fallen. Remember who’s been left behind to carry on. Memorial day is not about the three-day weekend, blowout sales, parties, and BBQs. Memorial Day is about those service men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice, dying while serving in the military, and protecting our rights.
May 5, 1868, Decoration Day, as Memorial Day, was originally called was established as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971.
Take a moment to remember and thank those that served and died in their service while you enjoy your three-day weekend, got to that sale, party, or BBQ.
How to honor the fallen heroes.
- Fly the American Flag – half-staff from sunrise to noon and then full staff noon to sunset.
- Volunteer and attend a Memorial Day ceremony, festival, fair, or concert.
- Place American Flags on each grave in national cemeteries.
- Observe a moment of silence.
- The National Moment of Silence occurs at 3pm local time on Memorial Day.
- Visit a Memorial – find the visiting Vietnam Walls or other memorials.
- Donate to veterans and military support groups. For a list see resources below.
- Wear a red poppy.
- The wearing of the poppy dates to 1918 and is called The Flanders Field Memorial Poppy in honor of those who died in World War I.
Allow and embrace the grieving process during Memorial Day. Imagine you’ve lost someone and now you’ve been called to attend a service or celebration to honor your loved one and other fallen. We can only imagine how this feels. For the grieving this can be a poignant and challenging time. Their loved one is no longer here and they are missed. Honoring them is a part of the grieving process. Embrace grieving that loss, however it may show up. The grieving process is a just that a process and it takes time. No one is ever over it, or gets better. The grief journey is deeply personal and takes it’s own path. Support those around you and allow grief to happen. However it looks. Embrace it and know its part of the journey.
Here’s to all of those who have served before us and paid that ultimate price of death while serving in our military. Here’s to all of the surviving families that carry on with out their loved one. We remember, honor and embrace you. Much peace and blessings to you.
Teresa & Jeni
PS. We would love to hear your stories and get your input. We would love to learn from you. SHARE YOUR STORY!
Memorial Day & Veterans Resources
Memorial Day Specific Information, History, Ways to Honor
http://www.usmemorialday.org/
http://militarybenefits.info/memorial-day/
https://mobile.usaa.com/inet/wc/enterprise-mobile-memorialday-ways-to-honor-landing
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/memorial-day-history
Veteran, Soldier, Family and Widow Support
Coaching for Veterans – http://www.standbesidethem.org/
Charities Supporting Soldiers and Their Families:
http://www.ausa.org/resources/familyprograms/resources/InternetResources/Pages/CharitiesSupportingSoldiersandtheirFamilies.aspx
Society of Military Widows: http://www.militarywidows.org/home.aspx
American Widow Project http://americanwidowproject.org/
Original 2016 blog from Teresa’s Blogs: http://www.boldfulfilledlifecoach.com/coaching-blog/memorial-day-remember-and-honor-the-fallen-embrace-grieving
