Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, although I suspect some people are not sure why we celebrate it as a national holiday.

Originally know as Decoration Day, this holiday remembers the men and women who died while serving our country in the armed forces. The first official observance of Memorial Day was in 1868 when our country honored those Union soldiers who died in the Civil War. Since then the meaning of the day has expanded to include all casualties of any military action.

Many people observe this holiday by visiting cemeteries, and Earl and I are among them. About twelve years ago, we were on a biking holiday in southern Wisconsin over Memorial Day Weekend where we stopped to rest at a charming small town cemetery. Carrying it one step further, we decided we would each find the tombstone of someone who had died while serving in the military and take a moment of personal silence to salute that person, even though he or she was a total stranger. We’ve been doing this ever since.

If you are near a cemetery this weekend, I urge you to consider making this tradition your own. While politicians and pundits talk about the freedoms we have in America, our military men and women are helping safeguard them for all of us. Regardless of what you think about invasions, bombings, aerial attacks and the other accoutrements of war, those who gave their lives deserve recognition.