HOORAY for the long weekend, amiright?

No one likes a Monday morning anyway and it's even better on this particular weekend because it's summer time! The weather is beautiful, the water is warm, school is out, it's high time for a celebration!

But why do we have a long weekend in the first place?

Because since 1775 (the beginning of the Revolutionary War) men and women have been putting their lives on the line for your freedom.

And since 1864 (at the tail end of the Civil War) we have been honoring those individuals every year at the end of May.

Did you know that more 1.1 million Americans have been killed in all U.S wars?

That's over a million (and rising) men and women who have given their lives in service for their country. That is a sacrifice and an honor that more than deserves a day of recognition. But many Americans have forgotten the meaning and traditions of Memorial Day. At many cemeteries, the graves of the fallen are increasingly ignored or neglected. Most people no longer remember the proper flag etiquette for the day and while there are towns and cities that still hold Memorial Day parades, many have not held a parade in decades.

Memorial Day is so much more than a three-day weekend and a six-pack by the pool. It's honoring those who have given their lives so that we can have a Memorial Day party, who gave us a reason to celebrate, and who have protected us on lands both foreign and domestic from anyone and anything that threatens our safety.

So today while you celebrate with your friends and family, remember those who have made that possible. Remove your ball-cap when you hear Taps being played, wear red poppies over your heart, visit a cemetery to leave flowers for fallen heroes, and raise a cold one to your freedom. And in the midst of all the fun this weekend, may your heart be just a little heavy with the weight of the gratitude that is due to our United States Veterans.

"I am oppressed with a sense of the impropriety of uttering words on this occasion. If silence is ever golden, it must be beside the graves of fifteen-thousand men, whose lives were more significant than speech, and whose death was a poem the music of which can never be sung." - James A. Garfield, a Civil War general, Republican congressman from Ohio and President (1881)

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed in December 2000.

It asks that at 3 p.m. local time all Americans “voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of Remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to Taps.”

Find a recording of Taps here!