This article is dedicated to Dave You and the other courageous men and women who protect our country. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
It’s Memorial Day Weekend and the city is swarming with a wonderful servicemen! There are tons of events to attend and let’s face it… you don’t know what to wear. Whether it be casual chic for a BBQ or sexy sultry for a night out, how many times do you have to hear it? It’s all about the accessories!
I’m hoping to see a lot of red, white and blue this weekend as I frolic in the streets of Manhattan and also hoping to bring back a Memorial Day tradition that was forgotten some time ago… the red poppy. No, not the kind of poppy you see every morning on your bagel but the red poppy flower. In 1915 Moina Michaels wrote a poem after being touched by “In Flanders Field” written by World War I Colonel John McCrae, a surgeon with Canada’s First Brigade Artillery.
“We cherish too, the Poppy red
That grows on fields where valor led,
It seems to signal to the skies
That blood of heroes never dies.”
Moina Michaels was the first to wear a red poppy on Memorial Day to honor those that gave their lives serving our country and she sold artificial poppies to her friends and family and donated all proceeds to orphans and families of servicemen. This tradition of using red poppies to honor the fallen and to raise money for the families of servicemen has lost its popularity but has not been totally forgotten.
In 1924, a poppy factory was built in Pittsburgh, PA and today, veterans at the VA medical centers still help assemble these poppies. They are then distributed by veterans service organizations throughout the country.
So, no need for earrings, necklaces, bracelets or rings this weekend… find a red poppy and show your support for our servicemen. And don’t be shy to stop them this weekend to say “thank you”.
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Poppies are a BIG deal in the UK when rememberance Sunday comes around every November. It is great to see someone raise awareness of this tradition in the US.