Red Poppies and Memorial Day 2011

Red Poppies and Memorial Day 2011

I gave my two granddaughters, aged 11 and 13, little, red, paper poppies the other day.

They looked at them skeptically and asked, “What’s this?” I briefly tried to explain their meaning, that red poppies are worn on Memorial Day to commemorate America’s war dead, the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have died for our country. The girls shrugged and pocketed the poppies.

Assuming their public school teachers would at least make passing reference to the meaning of this national holiday and maybe even of the poppies, I asked them today what their teachers had said about Memorial Day. The eleven year old answered, “Nothing,” the thirteen year old answered, “A few told us to enjoy the day off, one told us to stay safe.” I asked if they had worn the poppies. Both said no, that they would have felt “weird.”

Very sad, indeed, on a number of counts including the fact Memorial Day is not intended for enjoyment but for remembering.

It’s easy to forget the meanings behind national holidays, especially when those charged with educating either don’t know the meanings or don’t care. Christmas, of course, is now regarded in our schools as nothing more than an occasion for a week off and in American society in general as a time for shopping and getting.

And people often confuse Veterans Day, when we honor all those who have served the nation, with Memorial Day, when we pay respects to those who have perished in the service of our country so, to be generous, maybe we can attribute the prevailing disinterest . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=4670)