by Ellen K. Halter
Although many view Memorial Day as a day to honor and mourn those American soldiers who fell in battle while others view it as a mere holiday from work or school, the deepest meaning is to memorialize those people who may not have died for our country but who lived to defend and uphold our democracy. This includes heroes many of us hold dear, people like Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Yes, the truest meaning of Monday, May 31, is to give thanks for our democracy, to remember those who died defending it in the face of Nazism or totalitarianism, and hold in our hearts all manner of individuals who sacrificed to maintain and improve our democratic institutions.