What Memorial Day is about!
Interesting facts and my own feelings too!

For to many people Memorial Day is just the unofficial beginning of summer, a day off from work, and the start of grilling season. In the past, I can remember that's why I looked forward to this weekend, but that changed last year!

In June of 2008, I attended the funeral of a loved one who proudly served our country in the military; he was buried with military honors. During the service an Honor Guardsman told us we would never hear Taps again and not remember the sacrifice that many of our military men and women gave, the ultimate sacrifice - their lives for the protection of our freedoms, our rights, and our nation. Yesterday, as I watched the beginning of the Indianapolis 500, which always begins by honoring our fallen heroes with a 21-gun salute and Taps I did remember! So I would like to pass on these facts about Memorial Day, so that you will know what we are truly celebrating today, and that you will remember too!

When was Memorial Day first celebrated?

May 30, 1868

Why is Memorial Day celebrated on May 30?

Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.

How is the 3rd U.S. Infantry associated with Memorial Day?

Since the late 1950’s on the Thursday just before the Memorial Day, around 1200 soldiers of the 3d U.S. Infantry place small American flags at each of the more than 260,000 gravestones at Arlington National Cemetery. They then patrol 24 hours a day during the weekend to ensure that each flag remains standing.

Why is the poppy a symbol for Memorial Day?

In 1915, inspired by the poem, “In Flanders Fields”, Moina Michael authored this poem:

We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.

She then conceived of an idea to wear red poppies on Memorial Day in honor of those who died serving the nation during war. She was the first to wear one, and sold poppies to her friends and co-workers with the money going to benefit servicemen in need.

Finally, I would like to say thank you to all of our military men and women, those serving currently and those who have served in the past! My family and I appreciate you and the work you have done to protect the freedoms that our country holds so dear! To the families of service men and women who have given the ultimate sacrifice, their lives to protect our freedoms, we say thank you and pray the Lord's peace be upon you today and always! We will never forget!

Blessings,

Debra

Tag....I'm It!

Gayle from This Artist's Journey has tagged me, and I am it! Now it is my turn to answer a few questions that will tell you a little more about me! So here I go, and by the way....watch out you might be tagged next!

Eight things I'm looking forward to:

1. School being out!
2. Warmer weather and being outside in the garden
3. Swimming and getting a tan
4. Fresh peaches from the Farmer's Market
5. Heaven
6. Veggies (especially tomatoes) fresh from my garden
7. Cosmos (my favorite flower) in the flower beds
8. Learning another new jewelry technique

Eight things I did yesterday

1. Homeschooled the boys
2. Dreamed of making several different pairs of earrings, after all there are so many ideas floating around in my head!
3. Took my boys to AWANA for their end of the year ceremony, and smiled big grins when they got trophies and ribbons for all their hard work this year!
4. Read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe on the back deck in the warm sun
5. Twittered about numerous things
6. Contacted some of my dear Internet friends
7. Listened to my favorite talk radio station
8. Made spaghetti for dinner, Yum!

Eight things I wish I could do:

1. Speak Spanish and French fluently
2. Talk to my Grandma again
3. Adopt one of my girls from the Coq Chante, Haiti orphanage and bring her to the USA
4. Have Solomon's wisdom (and his riches would be good too!)
5. Get my parents to move closer to us
6. Put an end to all the hate in the world
7. Go to the beach again
8. Remember what it was that I went into another room to get! Argh!

Eight Things or Shows I Have Watched:

1. Mythbusters (my boys favorite show because they blow up so many things!)
2. Platinum Weddings
3. The Saint (the movie with Val Kilmer)
4. The Tangers sitting on their nest in the maple tree in our yard
5. The constellation Orion in the fall and winter night sky
6. The people I love getting older
7. The space shuttle taking off
8. The Northern Lights

Eight of My Favorite Blogs:

de Cor's Handmades - Lots of great wire wrapped tutorials, and pictures of her everyday life. After reading her blog you feel like you really know her personally, and the things that Cora does with wire are so inventive too!

Zaplecione - This jewelry artist is from Poland and her writing isn't in English but Oh! the jewelry she makes! When I grow up, I want to make jewelry like she does!

Angela's Heartwork - Angela takes the most awesome photographs, and writes inspiring poetry to go with each one! Her work will touch your heart, and her stories of everyday life will make you grin!

Paulette Insall - mixed media artist and mom - The ladies in Paulette's paintings and prints just speak to me! She also does many online workshops, so if you would like to learn mixed media and more check out her blog!

Gailavira - Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry - Donna has awesome wire wrapping tutorials (many of which I have), she has inspired me to make lots of new pieces of jewelry!

the b-line - have a lovely day - A well written, down to earth blog with so many different "every day" topics that makes it very enjoyable to read! Amy shares recipes, pictures of everyday life and continually promotes many artists and crafters in her blog!

Merry's Musings - Another well written and thoughtful blog with a variety of topics! Intermixed with wonderful poems and stories you will find lots of old fashioned prints and pictures. Nora's writing makes me smile!

A Year of CrockPotting - Lots of delicious crock pot recipes worth checking out!

In closing I'd like to say thanks to Gayle for the tag! Answering these questions has been fun and thought provoking! Also, if I could add one more thing to the "wish I could do" list, it would be paint like you! Painting with watercolors was one of those art class "must do's" when I was in school and I didn't appreciate it like I do now! Hopefully Mr. Ryan, my art teacher will forgive me! :)

I hope you have enjoyed reading the answers to these questions, and hopefully I've given you a little more incite into who I am through this posting and all my other musings in this blog! And be forewarned, you might be tagged next!

Blessings,

Debra