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Tallahassee Advertiser & Big Bend Classifieds May 23 - May 29, 2024 Page 4 Place FREE Classified Ads at TallyAds.com<br />
Take time to honor the nation’s fallen soldiers this Memorial<br />
Day weekend<br />
OVER THE TOP<br />
By Erica Guy<br />
Hello, my over-the-toppers! Welcome<br />
to another week of Over the<br />
Top! I’m your host … er, um … columnist.<br />
I meant columnist. Am I the<br />
only one who read that in a game<br />
host voice? LOL.<br />
Alright, my toppers. Today, we’re<br />
going to talk about Memorial Day.<br />
If you’re like my significant other,<br />
you’re probably thinking, “Isn’t Memorial<br />
Day in November?”<br />
Every holiday, we go through an<br />
entire script of when a holiday is and<br />
what month.<br />
Me: No, that’s Veteran’s Day.<br />
My SO: No, Veteran’s Day is in<br />
September.<br />
Me: No, that’s Labor Day.<br />
It’s gotten to the point where I just<br />
answer his questions before he can<br />
ask. Meanwhile, he has a smartphone<br />
with a calendar that has ALL the holidays<br />
programmed already. *MAJOR<br />
eyeroll*<br />
I genuinely believe he would lose<br />
his head if I weren’t there for him.<br />
(Am I right, ladies?)<br />
But back to business. Memorial<br />
Day is the long-awaited three-day<br />
weekend when the family gets together<br />
to light the grill and eat good<br />
food.<br />
Except that’s not REALLY what<br />
Memorial Day is about. The reason<br />
we celebrate this uniquely American<br />
holiday is much more meaning. We<br />
use this holiday to honor the nation’s<br />
military personnel who died in wars,<br />
both foreign and on U.S. soil (the last<br />
war on U.S. soil was the Civil War, by<br />
the way).<br />
Since the “official” birth of America<br />
in 1776 the nation has lost 1.3 million<br />
soldiers in wars and other military<br />
conflicts (minus the ongoing ones).<br />
Let’s see…. Our nation has been in<br />
existence for 248 years. According to<br />
online sources, we’ve been involved<br />
in more than 100 wars and conflicts.<br />
In fact, I discovered a thread on Quora.com<br />
that notes there are only 15<br />
years in which the U.S. was NOT involved<br />
in some sort of military conflict.<br />
That means, that for 93.9% of<br />
America’s history, we’ve been “at<br />
war” — and we are currently involved<br />
in several conflicts around the world,<br />
adding more deaths to that rough tally<br />
of 1.3 million.<br />
So, this Memorial Day, let’s take a<br />
minute to honor those who made the<br />
ultimate sacrifice: their lives.<br />
Here are some ideas my family and<br />
I alternate between each year, although<br />
some of them have become a<br />
permanent tradition.<br />
Post a meaningful message on social<br />
media.<br />
<strong>TA</strong>LLY<br />
FUN FACT<br />
The hottest<br />
temperature in<br />
Tallahassee, Florida<br />
history is 105 °F<br />
which happened on<br />
Wednesday, June 15,<br />
2011.<br />
Write letters to the families of fallen<br />
heroes.<br />
Write letters to those serving in the<br />
military.<br />
Attend a Memorial Day Parade.<br />
Observe a moment of silence to remember<br />
those who have fallen.<br />
Wear a red poppy (according to tradition,<br />
the red symbolizes the blood<br />
spilled for our freedom).<br />
Volunteer with a veteran-focused<br />
organization.<br />
Go to a military cemetery and place<br />
flowers and/or flags on the graves. If<br />
you aren’t near one, you can donate<br />
flowers to a cemetery and have them<br />
put them.<br />
Personally, I write a letter to my godfather,<br />
who has been a Marine since<br />
1989. We lost contact with him as a kid<br />
because of personal issues., and truthfully,<br />
I’m not sure if he’s active, retired,<br />
or was KIA. Regardless, even though I<br />
never hear back, I write letters to him<br />
twice a year just to keep him updated<br />
on my life and the rest of the family.<br />
And, of course, go and light up the<br />
grill, get your family and friends together,<br />
plan some arts and crafts and<br />
other wet and dry fun activities, build<br />
a campfire and roast some marshmallows,<br />
and eat some good food this<br />
weekend.<br />
There are countless options for honoring<br />
our fallen heroes AND enjoying<br />
time with family and friends. Whatever<br />
you decide to do for Memorial Day, don’t<br />
forget the original purpose of the day.<br />
Until next week, see you later, gators!<br />
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