Memorial Day

Just so everyone knows, we will be opening at 9am on Monday, in observance of Memorial Day. This federal holiday has been around since after the Civil War, and was created to commemorate fallen soldiers and those who have fought in the United States Armed Forces. However, like most kids, I grew up waiting patiently for Memorial Day because it symbolizes the beginning of summer. It was the time that we would stop taking school seriously, because we knew that the few remaining weeks of class would be filled with field days, relay races, and watching movies in classrooms instead of learning anything real. Our teachers were just as eager for the last day of school as we were, and would often doze off at their desks while we listlessly worked on silly art projects.

The most important aspect of Memorial Day, with the exception of gorging oneself on hot dogs and hamburgers and getting a three-day weekend, was the reminder that FIREWORKS existed. All of the firework stands would go up immediately after Memorial Day weekend, and we would start the backseat begging. Every stand would try to out-boast the next, claiming the largest rockets or the most dangerous roman candles. Even sparklers became a competition, at one point roadside stands were selling sparklers that were over six feet long. My parents would usually withstand about a month of psychological torture from my brother and I, until they would finally break down and buy us what they deemed to be the safest fireworks arrangements. Little did they know that we had secretly been stockpiling M-80's, smoke bombs, and bottle rockets the whole time.