Labor Day Greetings to One and All! Here in America we have a few of these holidays throughout the year, usually on a Monday, where schools are closed and most everyone gets the day off. We sleep in, shop at the sales, and often cook outdoors and/or have a party. Labor day is one of those holidays. A nice day off at the end of summer, and who doesn't love that? But what is it all about, really? What is the history behind Labor Day in the US? I knew it had something to do with celebrating the workforce, or labor unions... ahem, uh, or something like that. So I decided to do a little research and this is what I found. Some of this you probably already know, but hopefully some of it will be new to you, as it was to me:"Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September. The first Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882 in New York City by the Central Labor Union of New York, the nation's first integrated major trade union. It became a federal holiday in 1884 as part of President Grover Cleveland's attempt to reconcile the government with the labor movement... The form for the celebration of Labor Day was outlined in the first proposal of the holiday: a street parade followed by a festival for workers and their families... Traditionally, Labor Day is celebrated by most Americans as the symbolic end of the summer. The holiday is often regarded as a day of rest and parties. Labor Day in the US also marks the beginning of the NFL and college football seasons, and other sporting events are also centered around this date." (this information edited from wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_Day)
Labor Day for our family this year went as many of our weekends go. We had a quiet morning at home, followed by Rich and I doing a little house-hunting with our awesome Realtor, Jerry (and we made an offer on a home - fingers crossed!). We then came home and took the kids out to an early dinner, did a little shopping, and we'll now probably spend the evening puttering around the house, getting ready for a lovely 4-day work week that starts bright and early tomorrow. Like I mentioned — just a nice day off. Love it! And I suppose there's really no better way to celebrate America's work force and the blessing it is to HAVE a job in today's economy than taking a day off from work to sit back, relax, and enjoy life for a day. So farewell to summer, bring on the fall, and here's to Labor Day!
"You do your best work if you do a job that makes you happy." —Bob Ross
"A human being must have occupation if he or she is not to become a nuisance to the world." —Dorothy Sayers
