This coming holiday weekend for most of us is the first bookend of the summer season. It’s a time for picnics and barbeques, gathering with family and friends. Depending on where you live, it may be warm enough for a first beach trip and swimming pools open for the season.

But we can’t forget that Memorial Day as a holiday honors the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. The history of this holiday may surprise you. Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, originating in the years following the Civil War. In 1950, Congress passed a resolution requesting that the president issue a proclamation calling on Americans to observe Memorial Day as a day of prayer for permanent peace. It became an official federal holiday in 1971. Many people observe Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries or memorials and participating in local parades.

As a child growing up in Minneapolis my family had the annual tradition of visiting graves on Memorial Day. We went to Fort Snelling National Cemetery to visit my father’s grave and then to smaller nearby cemeteries to visit my grandmother’s grave and a great uncle’s grave. Anyone who has been to a national cemetery with rows and rows of uniform white grave markers is moved by the experience. We are reminded of so many who have given unselfish service to our country.

My husband and I had the opportunity last summer to visit the American Cemetery at Normandy in France. That was a very moving experience. Visiting Omaha Beach just prior to that and learning more about the landings on D-Day, then seeing the thousands of graves at Normandy was a sobering reminder of what fighting for our freedom has meant.

I hope that as you enjoy the long holiday weekend you will hold in your heart the memories of all those whose lives are celebrated on Memorial Day.