Perspectives on Memorial Day

This past Memorial Day was one of relaxing and spending time with loved ones, like many others in the past. But this year I was able to observe it in a different perspective. My house is located on the top of a hill which overlooks my local cemetery. We finished our front patio late last summer, so this year I was able to conveniently watch many people come to the cemetery and give their respects to the fallen military servicemen. As people came and went throughout the day, the spirit of the holiday grew. Although, I did not talk to any family and friends about the past wars or the current one now, I gained a sense of appreciation towards our military service men and women. The people that are honored on Memorial Day are soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the freedoms of the citizens of the United States. As people spend time with the ones the love, it strengthens the bonds within the relationship. Memorial Day should be a day filled with memories with our loved ones, because after all if we didn’t have them there would not be a reason to fight. So even though my friends and family did not have a great discussion about our past soldiers, we did spend time together and in turn made lasting memories.
Later in the evening, I was called into work. Since I work at a retail store, this also showed me another side of Memorial Day, the commercialized beginning of summer. Many stores promote big discounts and savings. Although, we are currently in the middle of spring, this holiday encourages the summer time life. Some people even consider it as the unofficial beginning of summer. This holiday is placed after tax returns and even more conveniently this year’s raised tax refund. This refund is supposed to initiate economic growth by giving the citizens disposable income. Many stores are fighting to get this income so they will up the discounts and lower the prices to draw in customers. I find it interesting how many companies use holidays to promote more spending, and with our economy dwindling downwards perhaps this extra spending will help it stabilize. Whether spending time with my family and friends or working at a retail store, I was able to look at Memorial Day in a different perspective.