Celebrate Memorial Day at home with these ways to honor the servicemen and women who lost their lives fighting for our country.
For more tips, check out all our posts about Memorial Day.
It’s Memorial Day, which is a bonus day off for a lot of people.
But it’s more than just a long weekend and an excuse to go to the beach. It’s not the “unofficial start of summer.” It’s about the men and women who fought for our country and the ones who lost their lives protecting ours.
So of course, when you’re trying to decide how to celebrate Memorial Day at home, think about more than just the food.
Although, honestly, you can also think about the food. The entire weekend doesn’t have to be sullen.
How To Celebrate Memorial Day At Home
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This entire list is based on things you can do from your own home to honor the servicemen and women who lost their lives fighting for our country. This post doesn’t talk about beaches and barbecues.
It’s fine if you want to enjoy those things on your long weekend, but we suggest that you take a little time to honor those who served, and are serving, on this day as well.
Thank A Veteran
Memorial Day is about the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for our country. Some current and former servicemembers feel a little uncomfortable when you wish them a “Happy Memorial Day” because it’s not about them and because it’s not “happy.”
Keep in mind that these veterans may have lost a friend, or multiple friends, while serving. So these veterans may be spending the day reflecting on those people, on those missions, on that time served. The holiday is, possibly, quite awful for them.
So don’t offer them a beer. And don’t wish them a happy holiday.
Instead, thank them for their service. Thank them for their friends’ service. And offer to sit and talk to them about what the day means to them.
Watch Patriotic Movies
Definitely spend part of the day watching patriotic movies. If you’re not sure which ones to watch, we have a huge list of patriotic movies that you can pick from.
You’re able to stream a lot of those on Amazon Prime, Netflix, or Hulu, so you don’t have to worry about not owning the DVDs or having access to those movies. You can definitely find something to watch.
And if you want to make it more of an “event,” we have a post about how to have an at home movie night. So you can take some tips from that post.
Make Some Patriotic Foods
While you’re at home, you should definitely make some patriotic red, white, and blue foods for you to snack on during the day.
If you have young kids, you can turn this into a teaching moment too. Talk about the flag and what the red, white, and blue represent. If you need a little help with that, the American Legion very simply answers that (just click the link).
You can even talk about what the flag means to the country and to us as individuals, and what it means to defend the flag.
If you’re looking for some patriotic food to make this Memorial Day weekend, check out our favorite below:
Support A Military/Veteran Owned Business
If you’re shopping online today, consider shopping at a Military or Veteran Owned business or one that supports our military.
We have a full post on Military and Veteran Owned Businesses To Support, so be sure to click that link to see our favorites.
Hang A Flag
If you don’t already have a flag on your home, Memorial Day is a great day to hang one.
We have a large flag pole with a huge 4-foot x 6-foot flag that hangs. If you do decide to hang a flag, keep the U.S. Flag Code in mind. There are quite a few responsibilities that come with hanging a flag and you’ll for sure what to honor those.
If you don’t want a flag pole, you can hang small wooden stick flags along your property to commemorate Memorial Day. You can collect them after the day is over, store them properly, and put them back out for July 4th.
Wear A Poppy
The poppy is the American Legion official flower to remember the servicemen and women who have passed away. You can read about the history of the poppy, if you want to know the entire significance of the flower.
There are a lot of organizations that will pass around poppies on Memorial Day, either for free or for a donation.
If you have one from years past, now is the time to wear it. If you don’t have a paper poppy, you can actually purchase a poppy pin online. That way, you can wear the poppy every year.
Stream The National Memorial Day Concert
Every year, PBS holds the National Memorial Day Concert. This year’s concert was be held on Sunday, May 29. It started at 8 pm EST and was a 90-minute show. You were able to view it on your local PBS station.
But, what’s great is that, if you missed it, you can actually stream the National Memorial Day Concert online.
The stream will be available via that link for two weeks following the broadcast, so you can stream the replay. There are also videos with bonus content via that link as well.
How will you celebrate Memorial Day at home? Let us know in the comments.