(no subject)
Yesterday i participated in the most reverent, solemn, and terribley sad Memorial Day celebration i've ever seen. In 1868, May 30th was declared Decoration Day. It was a day in which the graves of those who had been lost in the War Between the States would be decorated with flowers and their lives and sacrafice would be remembered. This is what developed into our modern Memorial Day. At the Seaport, we recreate Decoration Day and i wish it was something more communities did.
Decoration Day began with a breif non-demoninational church service that include a homily about the day, a reading of the Gettysburg Address, a reading of Walt Whitman's Lilac Flowers, and the singing of Battle Hymn of the Republic, Lord of the Dance, and My Country 'Tis of Thee. Then a somber parade, led by a single fife and drum, marched to the end of the warf. There, a young girl was rowed out to the middle of the river where she released a flower wreath for those men who had died at sea. Then we each threw a single flower off of the warf, in silence.
i know it sounds simple, but this was one of the saddest, most beautiful ceremonies that i have ever been witness to. It had me thinking about all the people that are now, at this moment, fighting for this nation; hoping not to join the numbers who will not return home. Next year, if you don't have plans, i would suggest coming to the Seaport on Decoration Day. i'm certainly gald i was there yesterday.
Decoration Day began with a breif non-demoninational church service that include a homily about the day, a reading of the Gettysburg Address, a reading of Walt Whitman's Lilac Flowers, and the singing of Battle Hymn of the Republic, Lord of the Dance, and My Country 'Tis of Thee. Then a somber parade, led by a single fife and drum, marched to the end of the warf. There, a young girl was rowed out to the middle of the river where she released a flower wreath for those men who had died at sea. Then we each threw a single flower off of the warf, in silence.
i know it sounds simple, but this was one of the saddest, most beautiful ceremonies that i have ever been witness to. It had me thinking about all the people that are now, at this moment, fighting for this nation; hoping not to join the numbers who will not return home. Next year, if you don't have plans, i would suggest coming to the Seaport on Decoration Day. i'm certainly gald i was there yesterday.