My Memorial Day Traditions

Memorial Day is one of my favorite summer holidays. Even though Memorial Day officially falls during spring, it is warm enough here to say it is summer! I do like to reflect back on the origins of the Memorial Day holiday and remember to honor those who have given their lives serving our country and giving us our freedom that is so rare in our world today.

For Memorial Day, I like to decorate in red, white, and blue. I will usually make sure my flag (hanging outside) is in good condition. Also, I like to use wreaths decorated in patriotic colors and flowers on my doors. I keep one red, white and blue bow on my door year-round. At Memorial Day, I replace the old bow with a new one and add several others to the outside of my house and yard. I also have a small garden flag with a patriotic theme that I change out with my springtime flag.

Inside the house, I use a red, white and blue tablecloth and try to find paper plates, cups and napkins that follow the theme. Additionally, I have several cute indoor decorations that get to come front and center in my home décor for the summer!

Now, for the festivities at my house -since Memorial Day is on a Monday, I usually start the celebration the Saturday before so that my out of town friends and family can join us and not feel rushed to leave and go back home to prepare for work on Tuesday morning. My tradition is to have a Saturday, late-lunch, picnic/cookout. I start by inviting my family and friends. I probably invite from 25 to 30 people each year. I let everyone know that the first meal will be served around 1:30 on Saturday and that everyone is welcome to stay for the weekend. I have them to let me know their plans -not coming, lunch only, Saturday only, all weekend, etc -so that I can plan my shopping accordingly.

I grill hamburgers and hot dogs for the Saturday afternoon cookout. Then, I add a few different kinds of chips and dips, baked beans, buns, condiments and drinks to the mix. I serve on the paper products mentioned earlier. For dessert, I usually call my favorite bakery and order several different kinds of cookies, brownies and cake squares. This way, I have all tastes covered.

After the cookout and dessert, we all just sit around and visit. Usually, those who stay for dinner break out the leftovers and we all enjoy the relaxed dinner and each others company.

I usually have 2 or 3 people who will stay for the weekend -which I love! We sleep in the next morning and will order breakfast out. One person always gets the job of going to pick up the breakfast while the rest of us reset the table and get drinks ready. Once we eat breakfast, we will visit some more, play games (board games and outside games), and go out and shop a little. We have take-out food for the rest of the weekend -who wants to spend time with friends and family cooking and cleaning???

Once we have all had fun, I usually do the final prepping the pool for the summer. It is usually warm enough to swim by mid-May (at least where I live), and I get the pool started pretty early in the month. By Memorial Day, the water is usually warm enough to swim in and the chemicals are usually balanced correctly. So, we spend the actual Memorial Day holiday in the pool on floats. I love to swim, I love the water and I love warm weather...but most of all, I love principles that make Memorial Day such an important day for me and all of us in America!