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My holidays: the good, the bad, the ugly
I like Christmas, my extended family is very close so Christmas starts the night before
with quite a few family events and runs through til the following night. The amount of fun
during that 36 hours, with no sleep and plenty to do as well as Mom's cooking makes it
special every year. What makes it even better is New Years day is right around the corner
so no waiting for another Holiday. Seems like a lot of families don't consider that much
of a holiday, but at my parent's house dad believes "If you eat good on New Years day
you'll eat good all year" so the food is top-notch and with any family gathering something
fun is usually going to happen. Its kind of like a second Thanksgiving (yet another day to
look forward to)
I believe strongly in God, so Easter means something special to me as the day Christ rose
again; for the family it is just a matter of a meal and maybe a prayer that lasts a bit
longer and is a little stronger than others before we eat. You can't compare anything to
Christmas but its a nice day.
Memorial day is a mixed day. I'm a veteran. I did my first tour in Iraq and my second in
Afghanistan. It was nothing like WWII where guys were dying in droves, but the 278th had
18 guys not come home from Iraq, guys that I trained with and some that I knew. The 86th
had 3 guys get killed which I guess numbers wise sounds a lot better (that is if you don't
know them) but a lot more wounded. Also, having a huge hospital at our base meant I could
see the wounded on their way home. Seeing 7 people that you know lying broken and
uncounsious in a hospital bed is something you can't forget. I have other friends that
died that were with different units in different places and times. I'm glad to have know
the ones that are gone and I'll never forget. I prefer to not have them in my active
thoughts, but knowing so many people who gave their lives makes me grateful for the things
that I do have every day. Memorial day brings things up that are probably left better
alone. Its frustrating to me is that everyone gets the day off work and they BBQ or drink
beer on the back lawn or its a day to open the pool but no one really ever thinks to put
some flowers on a tombstone or take 15 minutes and a few dollars on this extra day of to
put tiny American flags in the ground near where they are burried. I mean, after all, it
is the day that is suppose to be for them.
I despise Veteran's day. I'm a police officer (please no fighting or stupid jokes over
that) yet every single Veteran's day seems to fall on a day that I have to work.
Meanwhile, I spend my entire shift driving around going to complaints for noise, drunks,
fighting and dealing with stupidity of people that get the day off who haven't served a
day in their lives or people who don't even have a job and are stupid every day. So all
day long I work harder than normal on a day that is for vets while everyone is an idiot.
That really aggravating to me. In my own little world I'd dream to see the day that to get
paid for Memorial day, you have to take at least 10 minutes and do something for the
people the holiday is for, and make it be the only people that get Veterans day off are
the Veterans.
Great topic OP and thank you for posting.
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