Of all the major American holidays, Memorial Day and Labor Day are the most divorced from their ostensible meanings. To most peo­ple—my­self in­clud­ed—they are little more than the brackets of summer, three-day weekends of barbecues and sun.

Memorial Day com­mem­o­rates U.S. men and women who died in military service. I don’t think I know anyone who actually observes that, including Emma, a USAF veteran. If I knew some military families, I might think otherwise.

Veterans Day (November 11th) honors all veterans, peacetime or wartime, living or dead. Few adults get Veterans Day off, so it’s poorly observed.

Labor Day originated as a parade to exhibit to the public “the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor or­ga­ni­za­tion­s”. That meaning is long gone for most people.