Okay, I understand it's not Thanksgiving or Christmas. But if you look at any calendar, you'll notice those are not the only two holidays noted during the year. Let's start at the beginning, which is always a reasonable place to take the first steps.
Holiday (n): 1500s, earlier haliday (c. 1200), from Old English haligdæg "holy day, consecrated day, religious anniversary; Sabbath," from halig "holy" + dæg "day"; in 14c. meaning both "religious festival" and "day of exemption from labor and recreation," but pronunciation and sense diverged 16c. As an adjective mid-15c. Happy holidays is from mid-19c., in British English, with reference to summer vacation from school. As a Christmastime greeting, by 1937, American English, in Camel cigarette ads.* (Etymology Online)
The modern definition is just a day off work, or time off between school terms. (Yes, I've simplified that).
January. Of course, we start off with New Year's. Wait. Is this the actual holiday, or is the holiday the night before? That's when all the parties are held, after all. This is supposed to be the first holiday of the calendar year, but it's more a day of recovery from all the pre-holiday parties that are held to mark the holiday. For simplicity, we'll assume January 1 is still the actual holiday since it is the actual first day of the new year. Unless you are Chinese or Jewish. They celebrate the start of the new year differently.
February. There's not really a holiday this month so America created her own. Groundhog's Day and President's Day. Where else in the world would you go through the trouble of disturbing an animal in winter hibernation so you can consult about the beginning of Spring? And in case you weren't aware, calendar Winter begins on December 21st, so this event is literally in the middle of the season. You've always got 7 weeks until the official first day of Spring, which is March 21st. Leave poor Phil alone.
President's Day is for the sole purpose of collectively recognizing the birthdays of every U.S. President who was ever in office or will be in office.
March/April. I've combined these because of Easter, which Biblically speaking is in April, but according to modern standards is a floating holiday and can occur in either month. Can we not just settle on a date and stick with it?
In March, you also have Mother's Day in some countries. But the U.S. recognizes this on the 2nd Sunday in May. Technically, this is a day of recognition and not a holiday because you don't get the day off from work for it, and if the Post Office ran on Sundays, they would still deliver mail.
St. Patrick's Day is in March, but guess what? That's Ireland's holiday.
May also has Memorial Day. This is important for Americans. We remember and honor those who gave their lives on behalf of our great Nation. Never forget those who gave all they had to protect us and our freedoms. There are also a great many who gave their lives on the battlefield in aid to our allies.
There's also Cinco de Mayo, but I think folks have forgotten that's really Mexico's holiday to celebrate their independence from France. Maybe they never knew that to begin with.
June, the month of brides and weddings. Okay, that's not officially a holiday, but weddings were popular because way back before commercial florists were around, this was the best time for brides to acquire fresh flowers for their weddings.
Father's Day is in June. But did you know that Catholic Europe celebrated it March 19th as far back as the Middle Ages? (Mother's Day is less than 100 years old.)
July. America's Independence Day is the only major holiday this month, but that's okay since it's the Nation's biggest one. Happy birthday, U.S.A.!
August. Well, here's an empty month. Completely devoid of formal holidays. There's a long list of Observances, though.
September. Labor Day. This used to mark the beginning of the school year, but that happy event now occurs for the most part in mid-August. How many people even know what Labor Day commemorates? Let me help you out on this.
"Labor Day in the United States of America is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September. It honors the American labor movement and the contributions that workers have made to the strength, prosperity, laws, and well-being of the country." (Wikipedia)
October. Halloween (originally called "All Hallows, Eve", or "All Saints' Eve"), is a far cry from that now. It's a night when we dress up our kids as creepy characters, superheroes, fairies, etc., and take them out to beg for candy. The more time that's passed, the sketchier this event has become. Never mind what the Druids were supposed to have made of it.
November. Veteran's Day, the day we honor ALL men and women who gave of themselves to protect our Nation and serve(d) in our military. These people deserve our recognition and respect. Always. This day is for those who are still living, as well as those who died after they returned home from service.
Thanksgiving. The kick-off to the official "holiday season". Meant to remind us of the hardships our forefathers suffered to survive this strange new world and to honor God for bringing them through it by way of assistance from Native Americans, it's now a time we overeat with family and friends while watching a football game.
December. Christmas. This should be one of our most important religious holidays, but it's morphed into a month of complete commercialized buying frenzies. People go into serious debt to provide their families with "things", and all too often, the recipients whine and complain that what they were given wasn't what they wanted, or wasn't good enough, or just plain was not enough. And it's not always children who behave this way.
That brings me back to New Year's. Is the holiday the evening before when all the parties happen? Or is it the first day of the New Year? I guess that depends on whether you're sober or hung over.
And just what is my point? Go back to the definition of the word "holiday". If it's not a holy day, it's a Day of Recognition or Commemoration. We've confused them enough already. Let's get back to basics.
Honor those who earned and deserve our respect.
Celebrate special events and times appropriately.
Don't confuse that which is holy with that which is not.
