Happy Memorial Day everybody! I am so looking forward to the long Memorial Day weekend and my mama’s barbeque! It’s been almost a whole year since I chowed down on some ribs! I hope you get to spend the holiday with your family. If you’re one of the millions who have to work, well I hope someone saves you a plate! Is it obvious from allthis talk about BBQ that I am ready for lunch!

So right after I got through thanking God that it’s not only Friday, but the Friday that begins the long holiday weekend, I realized that I didn’t know exactly what Memorial Day commemorates. I thought it had something to do with our veterans, but then what about Veterans Day? I felt a little guilty about my ignorance. Luckily, I am a master at of the Google-fu, so now I have that information and can share it with you!

Memorial Day is the day we set aside to remember the men and women who’ve died in our wars and thank them for their sacrifice. It began after the Civil War, and was originally called Decoration Day because mourners would visit and decorate the graves of the war dead. Decoration Day events sprung up in communities across the country, so it’s hard to know for sure where it was first observed. My favorite Decoration Day origin story comes from Charleston’s Post and Courier newspaper. The paper credibly claims that the first Decoration Day events happened there, May 1, 1865. Around 10,000 former Charleston slaves marched to the city’s Washington Race Course, the site of a prison camp, to bury the Union soldiers who died there. It took the former slaves two weeks to bury the Union dead. After completing the somber and arduous task, it was time for a proper funeral. A procession 2800 black school children sang “John Browns Body” as they made their way to the new graveyard. After sermons and prayers of the funeral service,  the former slaves held a picnic. The mix of celebration and solemn remembrance became Charleston’s first Decoration Day. The day grew to recognize the soldiers who died in all of America’s wars after World War I, and became known as Memorial Day. Memorial Day became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Today, we celebrate Memorial Day by remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, and by taking much needed time away from the hectic work world to spend time with our families and loved ones. At OnTimeSupplies.com, we like to take the opportunity to thank our customers with free and discount shipping. Memorial Day is also the unofficial start of the summer, ushering in the season of Popsicles, freshly cut grass and Saturdays at the beach. I hope you have a great Memorial Day and a great summer!