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Tuesday, May 27, 2025

Maybe it’s just me

But I REALLY cringed hard over the weekend when I saw ads for BIG Memorial Day sales. Then there were all the folks cheerfully wishing others a "happy" Memorial Day weekend. Fer Bastet’s sake and SO sorry to be Donna Downer but has everyone forgotten what yesterday, the past weekend, was supposed to be about?

Ya know, to honor and remember those who died while serving (or as a result of their service) in the military and shit?

By the by, the very first Memorial Day observance was at the end of the Civil War on May 1, 1865 in Charleston, South Carolina. The people who had been owned by other humans (and treated no better, usually worse than, livestock) organized the day to honor those who had died liberating them. Also, to give these Union troops proper burials.

Yes it’s totally cool to have barbecues with family and friends, to head to the beach, go hiking (yech), lay in bed reading, eat bon bons, but remember the meaning, the reason for the day. Show a little respect, dammit.

FYI and you probably already know this:

  • The third Saturday of May is Armed Forces Day – it’s the day we honor those currently serving in the military.
  • The eleventh of November is Veterans Day – this is the day we honor all veterans, living and dead.

Related, Sherman Alexie’s Memorial Day substack post.

Adolph Alexie, my father’s father, was killed in action on April 6th, 1945, on Okinawa. He earned a posthumous Bronze Star for heroic service in a combat zone.

Six months after he died, his wife Susan died of tuberculosis. So my father, Sherman, Sr., and his sister, Ellen, were orphans raised by their grandmother. 

My father was a war orphan. My siblings and I were raised by a war orphan. The death of a soldier creates generations of loss.

I honor my grandfather’s sacrifice but I wish that he’d survived the war and made it back home to the reservation.

My father never talked about his father. My father never talked about his loss. My father never talked about his grief.

Go read the whole piece (it’s short).

And the chorus of Paul Simon’s song The Coast comes to mind:

This is a lonely life
Sorrows everywhere you turn
And that's worth something
When you think about it

Sorta, kinda, not really related, an interview with Alan Alda in The Guardian entitled ‘My mother didn’t try to stab my father until I was six’: Alan Alda on childhood, marriage and 60 years of stardom

I’ve always loved Alda. Yes, the roots are in M*A*S*H. So far, he’s a hero character from my youth who has not disappointed me. It’s not as though I’ve expected all those idols of my younger days to be better than human. I’m just relieved that Alda seems to actually be who he comes off as. Warm, intelligent, witty, and thoughtful versus some vulgar, abusive, common trump, Gaiman, Kegseth, Gaetz or Brainworm Boy type.

So, interesting interview and it inspires me to revisit the 1981 version of The Four Seasons as well as the new Tina Fey teevee series based on it.

Also, he has a podcast now called Clear+Vivid with Alan Alda. Something about connecting and communicating with interesting guests.  Obvs I need to find a way to access these. Do podcasts have transcripts or closed captioning?

Hi, I’m Donna and I’m TOTALLY old and not tech savvy in the least!

By the by, Alda’s mother was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia.

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