What will you be doing this Veterans Day?  Honoring our veterans at local events, visiting military cemeteries, spending time with family or friends who have served or are serving in the armed forces? Or will you be spending your day sleeping in, shopping, or at a movie?  It seems that Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day have all become holidays to honor the almighty dollar.  Sales, sales, sales.  Even Thanksgiving has become a day to prepare for Black Friday.  Between the power of media advertising and businesses trying to capitalize on more available shoppers the reason for most of our holidays is lost in making or saving money.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like a good sale.  I actually enjoy Black Friday.  But, when attending my children’s school for their Veterans Day assembly I realized that the celebration of many of these holidays happens before the holiday itself as our children learn about them in school.  I am grateful that our educators take the time to discuss and celebrate some important moments in our country’s history. They cover holiday topics like freedom, civil rights, the founding of our nation, honoring those who have served our country, and economic and social contributions of workers. They also tiptoe around as they try to cover the religious significance of other US Holidays without offending the cultural variety of today’s classroom.

I grew up with a deep pride and thankfulness for those who served in the military. The Vietnam War took my father from me. (No, he wasn’t killed, but the effects of two tours left him emotionally unable to deal with the reality of a family. He and my mother were divorced and I’ve only seen him a handful of times in the last 35 years.)  My grandfather and uncles never served in the military, yet we were taught that we owe a debt of gratitude to the men and women who have served. 

This Veterans Day I’ve decided to take back the holidays. Our schools and churches should supplement our children’s education of holidays, not be the primary teacher of them.  No longer will the only way my children celebrate holidays be in the classroom or at a church program, but I will take responsibly for celebrating the holidays with them.