Yes, Memorial Day, as we know it today, was originally “Decoration Day”, evolving in the years following the Civil War to commemorate those that died on both sides of the conflict, and later, all military that died in battle. Thus began the tradition of putting flowers and flags on graves in the spring, and it spread from military dead to family members and friends. It was unofficial until 1971, when the Day became officially recognized as a national holiday.
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After-Holiday Anxiety – A Belated Update
I wrote much of this over a couple of years, and I’m late posting it this year. Typically, it would go up on New Year’s Day, although it does take time for many of these conditions to settle in. We’re looking at the holidays in the rear-view mirror, as the cold, snowy “bleak mid-winter” has really set in. It started snowing yesterday, continued all night, and is still going today. They – the folks paid to do this – haven’t come to shovel out yet, but that’s ok. I don’t really have anywhere to go. The giddy joy of New Year’s Resolutions has dropped off because, well, it’s the end of January and it’s not that I have tapered off. The truth is, I never started. Added to the winter doldrums, there may be a number of “flying-under-the-radar” psychological issues that have gone undetected, as we hope they’ll go away too, like the resolutions and grand intentions. Primary among these psychological disorders is what I call After-Holiday Anxiety, or AHA. Advice columnists will advise seeking therapeutical assistance as, to my knowledge, the pharmaceutical people are still a few years away from a medical cure – tablets, a vaccine, scented candles, a special lightbulb perhaps. If something were available, I’d surely have seen it advertised by someone turned annoyingly perky on the nightly news.
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I'm Thinking...No! 